Exodus 23:20

Three gracious promises are here made to Israel, to engage them to their duty and encourage them in it; and each of the promises has some needful precepts and cautions joined to it.

I. It is here promised that they should be guided and kept in their way through the wilderness to the land of promise: Behold, I send an angel before thee (Exo 23:20), my angel (Exo 23:23), a created angel, say some, a minister of God's providence, employed in conducting and protecting the camp of Israel; that it might appear that God took a particular care of them, he appointed one of his chief servants to make it his business to attend them, and see that they wanted for nothing. Others suppose it to be the Son of God, the angel of the covenant; for the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt Christ; and we may as well suppose him God's messenger, and the church's Redeemer, before his incarnation, as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And we may the rather think he was pleased to undertake the deliverance and guidance of Israel because they were typical of his great undertaking. It is promised that this blessed angel should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies' country; thus God's spiritual Israel shall be kept through the wilderness of this earth, and from the insults of the gates of hell. It is also promised that he should bring them into the place which God had not only designed but prepared for them: and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers, and will preserve them to it, for he is faithful to him that appointed him. The precept joined with this promise is that they be observant of, and obedient to, this angel whom God would send before them (Exo 23:21): "Beware of him, and obey his voice in every thing; provoke him not in any thing, for it is at your peril if you do, he will visit your iniquity." Note, 1. Christ is the author of salvation to those only that obey him. The word of command is Hear you him, Mat 17:5. Observe what he hath commanded, Mat 28:20. 2. Our necessary dependence upon the divine power and goodness should awe us into obedience. We do well to take heed of provoking our protector and benefactor, because if our defence depart from us, and the streams of his goodness be cut off, we are undone. Therefore, "Beware of him, and carry it towards him with all possible reverence and caution. Fear the Lord, and his goodness." 3. Christ will be faithful to those who are faithful to him, and will espouse their cause who adhere to his: I will be an adversary to thine adversaries, Exo 23:22. The league shall be offensive and defensive, like that with Abraham, I will bless him that blesseth thee, and curse him that curseth thee. Thus is God pleased to twist his interests and friendships with his people's.

II. It is promised that they should have a comfortable settlement in the land of Canaan, which they hoped now (though it proved otherwise) within a few months to be in the possession of, Exo 23:24-26. Observe, 1. How reasonable the conditions of this promise are - only that they should serve their own God, who was indeed the only true God, and not the gods of the nations, which were no gods at all, and which they had no reason at all to have any respect for. They must not only not worship their gods, but they must utterly overthrow them, in token of their great abhorrence of idolatry, their resolution never to worship idols themselves, and their care to prevent any other from worshipping them; as the converted conjurors burnt their books, Act 19:19. 2. How rich the particulars of this promise are. (1.) The comfort of their food. He shall bless thy bread and thy water; and God's blessing will make bread and water more refreshing and nourishing than a feast of fat things and wines on the lees without that blessing. (2.) The continuance of their health: "I will take sickness away, either prevent it or remove it. Thy land shall not be visited with epidemical diseases, which are very dreadful, and sometimes have laid countries waste." (3.) The increase of their wealth. Their cattle should not be barren, nor cast their young, which is mentioned as an instance of prosperity, Job 21:10. (4.) The prolonging of their lives to old age: "The number of thy days I will fulfil, and they shall not be cut off in the midst by untimely deaths." Thus hath godliness the promise of the life that now is.

III. It is promised that they should conquer and subdue their enemies, the present occupants of the land of Canaan, who must be driven out to make room for them. This God would do, 1. Effectually by his power (Exo 23:17, Exo 23:18); not so much by the sword and bow of Israel as by the terrors which he would strike into the Canaanites. Though they were so obstinate as not to be willing to submit to Israel, resign their country, and retire elsewhere, which they might have done, yet they were so dispirited that they were not able to stand before them. This completed their ruin; such power had the devil in them that they would resist, but such power had God over them that they could not. I will send my fear before thee; and those that fear will soon flee. Hosts of hornets made way for the hosts of Israel; such mean creatures can God make use of for the chastising of his people's enemies, as in the plagues of Egypt. When God pleases, hornets can drive out Canaanites, as well as lions could, Jos 24:12. 2. He would do it gradually, in wisdom (Exo 23:29, Exo 23:30), not all at once, but by little and little. As the Canaanites had kept possession till Israel had grown into a people, so there should still be some remains of them till Israel should grow so numerous as to replenish the whole. Note, The wisdom of God is to be observed in the gradual advances of the church's interests. It is in real kindness to the church that its enemies are subdued by little and little; for thus we are kept upon our guard, and in a continual dependence upon God. Corruptions are thus driven out of the hearts of God's people; not all at once, but by little and little; the old man is crucified, and therefore dies slowly. God, in his providence, often delays mercies, because we are not ready for them. Canaan has room enough to receive Israel, but Israel is not numerous enough to occupy Canaan. We are not straitened in God; if we are straitened, it is in ourselves. The land of Canaan is promised them (Exo 23:31) in its utmost extent, which yet they were not possessed of till the days of David; and by their sins they soon lost possession. The precept annexed to this promise is that they should not make any friendship, nor have any familiarity, with idolaters, Exo 23:32, Exo 23:33. Idolaters must not so much as sojourn in their land, unless they renounced their idolatry. Thus they must avoid the reproach of intimacy with the worshippers of false gods and the danger of being drawn to worship with them. By familiar converse with idolaters, their dread and detestation of the sin would wear off; they would think it no harm, in compliment to their friends, to pay some respect to their gods, and so by degrees would be drawn into the fatal snare. Note, Those that would be kept from bad courses must keep from bad company; it is dangerous living in a bad neighbourhood; others' sins will be our snares, if we look not well to ourselves. We must always look upon our greatest danger to be from those that would cause us to sin against God. Whatever friendship is pretended, that is really our worst enemy that draws us from our duty.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. Behold, I send an Angel before thee] Some have thought that this was Moses, others Joshua, because the word מלאך malach signifies an angel or messenger; but as it is said, Ex 23:21, My name is in him, (בקרבו bekirbo, intimately, essentially in him,) it is more likely that the great Angel of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus Christ, is meant, in whom dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. We have had already much reason to believe that this glorious personage often appeared in a human form to the patriarchs, c. and of him Joshua was a very expressive type, the names Joshua and Jesus, in Hebrew and Greek, being of exactly the same signification, because radically the same, from ישע yasha, he saved, delivered, preserved, or kept safe. Nor does it appear that the description given of the Angel in the text can belong to any other person.

Calmet has referred to a very wonderful comment on these words given by Philo Judaeus De Agricultura, which I shall produce here at full length as it stands in Dr. Mangey's edition, vol. 1., p. 308: Ὡς ποιμην και βασιλευς ὁ Θεος αγει κατα δικην και νομον, προστησαμενος τον ορθον αυτου λογον πρωτογονον υἱον, ὁς την επιμελειαν της ἱερας ταυτης αγελης, οἱα τις μεγαλου βασιλεως ὑπαρχος, διαδεξεται. Και γαρ ειρηται που· Ιδου εγω ειμι, αποστελω αγγελον μον εις προσωπον σου, του φυλαξαι σε εν τῃ ὁδῳ. "God, as the Shepherd and King, conducts all things according to law and righteousness, having established over them his right WORD, his ONLY-BEGOTTEN SON, who, as the Viceroy of the Great King, takes care of and ministers to this sacred flock. For it is somewhere said, (Ex 23:20), Behold, I AM, and I will send my ANGEL before thy face, to keep thee in the way."

This is a testimony liable to no suspicion, coming from a person who cannot be supposed to be even friendly to Christianity, nor at all acquainted with that particular doctrine to which his words seem so pointedly to refer.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Exo 23:20 Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Ver. 20. Behold, I send an Angel,] i.e., Christ. Immediately after God had given the law, - by the rule and threats whereof God the Father in his government was to proceed, saith a divine, - and {a} after they had transgressed it, {Exo 33:2-4} he could not go along with them, for he should destroy them: but his Angel, that is, his Son, he would send with them; who also would destroy them, if they turned not, nor repented according to the rules of his law, the gospel.

{a} Mr Thomas Goodwin.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo_23:20

To bring thee into the place which I have prepared.

Lifes pilgrimage

The angel, the way, the prepared place. It is the Divine key to the mystery of life. Life is emphatically a way. Not by the way of the sea--a prompt and easy path--but by the way of the wilderness, of old God led His pilgrims. The vision of the angel in the way lights up the wilderness. Consider the suggestion of the text as to--

I. The pilgrims condition. Gods children must be pilgrims, because this world is not good enough, not bright enough, not capable of being blessed enough, for the pilgrim in his home. For--

1. The instructed soul sees the touch of essential imperfection and the bounds of close limitation in everything here.

2. There is a constant aching of the heart through memory and hope.

3. Life is a pilgrimage because it is far away from the Friend whom we supremely love.

II. The pilgrims guide.

1. God has sent His angel before us in the person of His Son.

2. He sends His angel with us in the person of the Holy Ghost.

III. The pilgrims way to the pilgrims home.

1. It is a way of purposed toil and difficulty, of wilderness, peril, and night. Suffer we must in the wilderness; the one question is, Shall it be with or without the angel of the Lord?

2. It is a way of stern, uncompromising duty. God asks us now simply to do and to bear, and to wait to see the whole reason and reap the whole fruit on high. We must train ourselves to the habit of righteous action, and leave the results to God and eternity.

3. It is a way of death. God promises to none of us an immunity from death. The shadow hangs round life as a drear monitor to all of us. He only who can eye it steadily and fix its form will see that it is angelic and lustrous with the glory beyond. The grave is but the last step of the way by which the angel leads us to the place which He has prepared. (J. B. Brown, B. A.)

Divine guidance

I. There is a Divine way.

1. Through the wilderness.

2. Beset with enemies.

3. Many privations.

4. Contrary to mere human liking.

Gods way is not our way! Ours may be pleasant at first but bitter at last, but Gods way is the reverse; and yet not exactly, for sweets are graciously mingled with the bitters. There is hunger, but there is manna. There is thirst, but there is clear water from the smitten rock. There is perplexity, but there is an angel to guide and protect.

II. This way leads to Divinely-prepared places. Heaven is a specially prepared place. I go to prepare a place for you. A place in the best of all places. A home in the best of homes. A dwelling-place where all the abodes are mansions. A seat where all the seats are thrones. A city where all the citizens are kings. What matters it though the way be long and sometimes dreary, so long as the place is so attractive; and we cannot fail to reach it if we obey Divine directions.

III. The travellers on this way are favoured with a Divine guide. Jesus Christ, the Angel of the new covenant, is fully competent to direct and protect. He has trodden every inch of the way.

IV. Divine promises are contingent on the faithful pursuit of Divine methods (Exo_23:21). The Divine methods are--Caution, obedience, self-restraint, and the entire destruction of all that has the remotest tendency to damage the moral nature. (W. Burrows, B. A.)

The angel of the covenant

I. His nature was Divine.

1. Equal with God.

(1) Bearing the Divine name; My name is in Him. The incommunicable covenant name of Jehovah.

(2) Performing Divine actions; Mine angel shall go, etc., I will cut them off. So New Testament, I and My father are one.

2. Distinct from the personality of the speaker, I send, so New Testament, The Father which sent Me.

II. His office was to conduct the covenant people to the fulfilment of Gods covenant engagement.

1. Providence. To keep thee in the way. So Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. In Him all things consist. Generally and particularly He preserves those who trust in Him (Joh_10:28).

2. Redemption. To bring thee into the place which I have prepared. Israels redemption is only half accomplished as yet. So Christs eternal redemption is not complete till the last enemy is destroyed (Joh_14:2-3).

III. The proper attitude towards Him.

1. Fear. Carefulness not to displease Him. Christ is the Saviour of those only who believe in Him. To others He is a savour of death unto death.

2. Obedience. Obey His voice. So says the Father in the New Testament (Mat_17:5); and Himself (Mat_28:20). This implies

(1) Trust in His person.

(2) Subjection to His authority.

(3) The prosecution of His commands.

IV. The reward of obedience to Him (Exo_23:22-23).

1. Identification and sympathy with us in our cause. I will be an enemy, etc.

2. Victory over our foes (1Co_15:57), world, flesh, devil, death, etc.

3. Inheritance in the promised land.

Learn--

1. (2Ti_1:9), That Gods grace has been manifested in Jesus Christ from the beginning of the world.

2. That Gods grace has been, through Jesus Christ, with His people up to the present moment.

3. And will be till the end of the world. (J. W. Burn.)

Christ at the head of the column

It is said when the Duke of Wellington, on one occasion, rode up to his retreating army, a soldier happened to see him first and cried out: Yonder is the Duke of Wellington; God bless him! and the retreating army had courage to nerve itself afresh and went forward and drove the enemy away. One has said that the Duke of Wellington was worth more at any time than five thousand men. So it would be if we had the Captain of our salvation in front, we would go forward. How gloriously would this Church contend if Christ were visibly in front of them! But the army was sometimes without the Duke of Wellington. There was a place where he could not be. And if Christ were visibly present, He would be present at the same time, only at one church in one locality; it might be in Philadelphia, but what of the thousand other cities? But an unseen Saviour is at the head of the column everywhere. We know He is there. The Captain of our salvation is where two or three are gathered in His Name to inspire us; and to-day, in every city on the face of this globe, where the columns meet to march, His voice sounds Onward! in their ears. (M. Simpson, D. D.)

The angel in life

Laws without angels would turn life into weary drudgery. Life has never been left without some touch of the Divine presence and love. From the very first this has been characteristic of our history. The solemn--the grand, fact is, that in our life there is an angel, a spirit, a presence; a ministry without definite name and altogether without measurableness! a gracious ministry, a most tender and comforting service, always operating upon our lifes necessity and our hearts pain. Let us rest in that conviction for a moment or two until we see how we can establish it by references to facts, experiences, consciousness against which there can be no witness. See how our life is redeemed from baseness by the assumption that an angel is leading it. Who can believe that an angel has been appointed to conduct a life which must end in the grave? The anticlimax is shocking; the suggestion is charged with the very spirit of profanity. If an angel is leading, us, is he leading us to the grave? What is it within us that detests the grave, that turns away from it with aversion, that will not be sent into so low and mean a prison? It is the Divinity that stirs within us. Then again, who could ask an angel to be a guest in a heart given up to evil thoughts and purposes? Given the consciousness that an angel is leading us, and instantly a series of preparations must be set up corresponding with the quality and title of the leading angel of our pilgrimage. We prepare for some guests. According to the quality of the guest is the range and costliness of our preparation. Whom our love expects our love provides for. When we are longing for the coming one, saying, The presence will make the house the sweeter and the brighter, and the speech will fill our life with new poetry and new hope. Oh, why tarry the chariot wheels? then we make adequate--that is to say, proportionate--preparation. The touch of love is dainty, the invention of love is fertile, the expenditure of love is without a grudge or a murmur,--another touch must be given to the most delicate arrangement; some addition must be made to the most plentiful accommodation; love must run over the programme just once more to see that every line is worthily written. Then the front door must be opened widely, and the arms and the heart, and the whole being to receive the guest of love. And that is so in the higher regions. If an angel is going to lead me, the angel must have a chamber in my heart prepared worthy of myself. Chamber!--nay, the whole heart must be the guest-room; he must occupy every corner of it, and I must array it with robes of purity and brightness that he may feel himself at home, even though he may have come from heaven to do some service for my poor life. Any appeal that so works upon every kind of faculty, upon imagination, conscience, will, force, must be an appeal that will do the life good. It calls us to perfectness, to preparedness, to a nobility corresponding in some degree with the nobility of the guest whom we entertain. The Divine presence in life, by whatever name we may distinguish it, is pledged to two effects, supposing our spirit and our conduct to be right. God undertakes our cause as against our enemies. Would we could leave our enemies in His hands! I do not now speak altogether of merely human enemies--because where there is enmity between man and man, though it never can be justified, yet it admits of such modification in the system of words as to throw responsibility upon both sides--but I speak of other enemies,--the enmity expressed by evil desire, by the pressure of temptation, by all the array against the souls health and weal of the principalities of the power of the air, the princes of darkness, the spirits of evil. Send the angel to fight the angel; let the angel of light fight the angel of darkness. The second effect to which the Divine presence in our life is pledged is that we shall be blessed with the contentment which is riches. Thus we have mysteries amongst us which the common or carnal mind cannot understand. Men asking Gods blessing upon what appears to be unblest poverty--men saying it is enough when we can discover next to nothing in the hand uplifted in recognition of Divine goodness. Thus we hear voices coming from the bed of affliction that have in them the subdued tones of absolute triumph; thus the sick-chamber is turned into the church of the house, and if we would recover from dejection, and repining, and sorrow, we must go to the bedside of affliction and learn there how wondrous is the ministry of Gods angel, how perfecting and ennobling the influence of Gods grace. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Exo 23:20-21. Behold, I send an Angel before thee — The Angel of the covenant: accordingly, the Israelites, in the wilderness, are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed Angel should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterward through their enemies’ country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers. Beware of him, and obey his voice; provoke him not — It is at your peril if you do; for my name — My nature, my authority; is in him.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 20-31. THE REWARDS OF OBEDIENCE. God always places before men" the recompense of the reward." He does not require of them that they should serve him for nought. The "Book of the Covenant" appropriately ends with a number of promises, which God undertakes to perform, if Israel keeps the terms of the covenant. The promises are:

1. That he will send an angel before them to be their guide, director, andhelper (vers. 20-23).

2. That he will be the enemy of their enemies (ver. 22), striking terror intothem miraculously (ver. 27), and subjecting them to other scourges also (ver. 28).

3. That he will drive out their enemies "by little and little" (ver. 30), notceasing until he has destroyed them (ver. 23).

4. That he will give them the entire country between the Red Sea and theMediterranean on the one hand, the Desert and the Euphrates on the other (ver. 31). And

5. That he will bless their sustenance, avert sickness from them, cause themto multiply, and prolong their days upon earth (vers. 25, 26). At the same time, all these promises except the first are made conditional. If they will "beware" of the angel and "obey his voice," then he will drive their enemies out (vers. 22, 23): if they will serve Jehovah, and destroy the idols of the nations, then he will multiply them, and give them health and long life (vers. 24-26), and "set their bounds from the Red Sea even unto the Sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river" (ver. 31). So far as they fall short of their duties, is he entitled to fall short of his promises. A reciprocity is established. Unless they keep their engagements, he is not bound to keep his. Though the negative side is not entered upon, this is sufficiently clear. None of the promises, except the promise to send the angel, is absolute. Their realisation depends on a strict and hearty obedience.

Behold, I send a messenger before thee. Jewish commentators regard the messenger as Moses, who, no doubt, was a specially commissioned ambassador for God, and who might, therefore, well be termed God"s messenger. But the expressions will not pardon your transgressions," and "My name is in him," are too high for Moses. An angel must be intended probably "the Angel of the Covenant, whom the best expositors identify with the Second Person of the Trinity, the Ever-Blessed Son of God. To keep thee in the way is not simply "to guide thee through the wilderness, and prevent thee from geographical error," but to keep thee altogether in the right path. s, to guard thy going out and thy coming m, to prevent thee from falling into any kind of wrong conduct. The place which I have prepared is not merely Palestine, but that place of which Palestine is the type viz., Heaven. Compare Joh_14:2: go to prepare a place for you.

Vers. 20-31. God"s promises sometimes absolute, but for the most part contingent on obedience.

I send an angel before thee." Here was a positive promise. An angel, a guide, a protector, would go before them throughout their wanderings in the wilderness, and lead them into the promised land lead, at any rate, some remnant of them, out of which God would make a great nation. Thus much was certain. God"s word to give his descendants the land of Canaan was pledged to Abraham, and he would not go back from it. They should reach Canaan, and an angel should lead them; but the rest was all more or less uncertain. If they indeed obeyed God, and did as he commanded, then he would be an enemy to their enemies, and give them full possession of the land of promise. If they truly served Jehovah, and not idols, then he would grant them health and long life, and other temporal blessings. And so it is with Christians. God gives absolutely certain blessings to all whom he accepts into covenant with him; but the greater part of the blessings which he has promised are contingent on their behaviour.

I BLESSINGS PROMISED TO CHRISTIANS ABSOLUTELY.

1. A Divine guide is promised to all. The Holy Spirit, speaking in men"shearts, directing and enlightening their conscience, tells them continually how they ought to walk, points cut the way, offers his guidance, nay, presses it on them, and seeks to lead them to heaven. The guide is more than an angel God"s holy name is in him. Nor does he guide only. He supports the footsteps, strengthens, sustains, comforts men.

2. Membership in Christ is promised. "I am the vine; ye are the branches. in me." We are as branches cut out of a wild olive, which have been grafted, contrary to nature, into a good olive-tree, to partake of its root and fatness. (Rom_11:17-24) We are "made members of Christ," for the most part, in our infancy, without effort or merit of our own, by God"s great mercy.

II BLESSINGS WHICH ARE CONTINGENT ON OUR OBEDIENCE.

1. The answer of a good conscience towards God a great blessing canonly, by the very nature of the case, belong to those who have striven always to be obedient, and have served the Lord from their youth.

2. Growth in grace is granted only to such as cherish and follow the gracealready vouchsafed them.

3. Spiritual wisdom and understanding are attained by none but those who,having "done the will of God, know of the doctrine". (Joh_7:17)

4. Assistance against spiritual enemies is contingent on our doing our bestto resist them.

5. Length of days is attached as a special blessing to obedience to parents. (Eph_6:2, Eph_6:3) Finally, and above all

6. The eternal bliss which is promised us in another world is conditionalupon our "patient continuance in well-doing" in this. We must" so run that we may obtain." Most of those to whom the promises of Ex 23 were addressed, forfeited them by their misconduct, and did not enter Canaan. They "lusted," they became "idolaters," they "tempted God," they "committed fornication," they "murmured and the result was that they "were overthrown in the wilderness." And "all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall". (1Co_10:11, 1Co_10:12)

HOMILIES BY J. ORR Vers. 20-33. Promises and warnings.

These conclude the Book of the Covenant.

I PROMISES.

1. An angel guide (vers. 20-23). But this angel was no ordinary or created angel. He is repeatedly identified with Jehovah himself. God"s "name his essential nature was in him. He is one with Jehovah, yet distinct from him no mere personification, but a real hypostasis. See the careful treatment of "the doctrine of the Angel of the Lord," in Oehler"s "Old Testament Theology," vol. 1. pp. 188-196 (Eng. trans.). We view the "angel" as the pro-incarnate Logos Christ in the Old Testament. Israel"s guide was the Son of God the same Divine Person who is now conducting "many sons unto glory," and who is become" the author of eternal salvation to all them that obey him". (Heb_2:10 Heb_5:9)

2. Defence against enemies (ver. 22). If Israel obeyed God"s voice, and did all that God spake, their enemies would be reckoned his enemies, and their adversaries his adversaries. And "if God be for us, who can be against us?". (Rom_8:31)

3. Aid in the conquest of Canaan (vers. 23, 27-31). Apply throughout to the spiritual warfare of the individual and of the Church.

(1) The way for the conquest would be prepared. God would send his fear before the Israelites (ver. 27) would, as stated in Deuteronomy, put the dread of them, and the fear of them, upon the nations that were under the whole heaven. (Deu_2:25 Deu_11:25; cf. Exo_15:15, Exo_15:16) There is a presentiment of defeat in the hearts of the enemies of God, especially when the Church is energetic and fearless in her work, which goes far to secure the victory for the latter. Something whispers to them that their "time is short". (1Co_7:29; Rev_12:12; cf. Mat_8:29) Moral forces are all on the side of the kingdom of God. They assist its friends, and operate to enervate and discourage its enemies. The Christian worker may rely on numerous invisible allies in men"s own hearts. Workings of conscience, stings of fear, dread of God, etc. God would also send hornets before the Israelites, to drive out the Canaanites from their strong castles (ver. 28). To us there seems no good reason for taking this declaration otherwise than literally. If taken symbolically, the "hornets" are equivalent to the stings of fear, etc., above referred to. A veritable hornet warfare this, and one of great value to the Gospel cause. Taken literally, the "hornets" may be regarded as types of secret providential allies of the co-operation of God in his providence, often by means of things insignificant in themselves, but working, under his secret direction, for the furtherance of his kingdom, and the defeat of those opposed to it. In a million unseen ways how encouraging the reflection! Providence is thus aiding the work of those who fight under Christ"scaptaincy.

(2) They would be prospered in battle (ver. 27). The individual, in his warfare with the evil of his own heart the Church, in her conflict with the evil of the world enjoy a similar promise. If Christ inspires, if he, the captain of the Lord"s host, gives the signal to advance, victories are certain. However numerous and powerful our spiritual enemies, greater is he that is with us than they that are against us. (1Jn_4:4)

(3) The conquest would be given by degrees. God would drive out their enemies before them, "little by little" (ver. 30). The reason given is, "lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee" (ver. 27). The method was a wise one. It doubtless had its dangers. Remaining idolatry would tend to become a snare. The delay in the extirpation of the Canaanites had thus its side of trial it would act as a moral test. In other respects it was attended with advantage. It would make the conquest more thorough. It would enable the Israelites to consolidate, organise, and secure their possessions as they went along. It would prevent the multiplying of the beasts of the field. And quite analogous to this is God"s method of conducting us unto our spiritual inheritance. The law of "little by little" obtains here also. "Little by little" the believer gains the victory over evil in self, and the heart is sanctified. "Little by little" the world is conquered for Christ. In no other way is thorough conquest possible. Suppose, e.g. , that, as the result of extraordinary shakings of the nations, a multitude of uninstructed tribes, peoples, communities, were suddenly thrown into the arms of Christendom even supposing the conversions real, how difficult would it be to prevent mischiefs from arising! Compare the troubles of the Reformation Churches. Make the yet more extravagant supposition that by some supreme moral effort the evil of our own hearts being suddenly aroused to intense activity it pleased God to give us the victory over the whole of this evil at once. How little could we do with such a victory when we had it! Thrown at once upon our own hands, how difficult it would be to know what to do with ourselves! Would not new foes fantastic conceits speedily arise from the ground of our yet undisciplined natures, to give us new troubles? The surest method is "little by little." It is not good for any man to have more than he needs to have a greater victory than he can rightly use; e.g. , a man who reads more books than he can mentally digest and assimilate; who has a larger estate than he can manage; who has more money than he can make a good use of. And yet the fact of evil still lurking in our hearts, and continuing in the world around us, exposes us to many perils. It acts as a moral test, and so indirectly conduces to the growth of holiness.

1. Material blessings (vers. 25, 26). In the land to which he was conducting them, God would give the people of Israel abundance of food and water; would take away all sickness from their midst (cf. "I am the Lord that healeth thee."; Exo_15:26) would greatly bless their flocks and herds; and would lengthen out their days to the full term. (cf. Deu_28:1-14) The blessings of the new covenant are predominantly spiritual. (Eph_1:3) Yet even under it, "godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come". (1Ti_4:8) Godliness has a natural tendency to promote temporal well-being. So ample a measure of prosperity as that promised in the text could, however, only accrue from direct Divine blessing. The absolute form of the expression answers to the absoluteness of the requirement my voice, and do all that I speak" (ver. 31). Falling short of the ideal obedience, Israel fell short also of the ideal fulness of the blessing.

2. Expansion of bounds (ver. 31). Only once or twice was this maximum of possession touched by Israel. Failure in the fulfilment of the condition kept back fulfilment of the promise. The Church"s destiny is to possess the whole earth. (Psa_2:8)

II WARNINGS. If these glorious promises are to be fulfilled to Israel, they must obey the voice of God and of his angel. Let them beware, therefore,

1. Of provoking the angel (ver. 21). God"s name was in him, and he would not pardon their transgressions. That is, he would not take a light view of their sins, but would strictly mark them, and severely punish them. He was not a Being to be trifled with. If his wrath against them were kindled but a little, they would perish from the way. (Psa_2:12) He was one with Jehovah in his burning zeal for holiness, and in his determination not to clear the guilty. See below. The Gospel is not wanting in its similar side of sternness. There is a "wrath of the Lamb". (Rev_6:17) There is a "judgment" which "begins at the house of God". (1Pe_4:17) There is the stem word shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people". (Act_3:23) Cf. also Heb_2:2, 3 10:26-39 12:25.

2. They must not serve other gods (ver. 24). Conversely, they were utterly to overthrow the idol gods, and to break down their images. "Where Jesus comes, he comes to reign." No rival will be tolerated alongside of him. We cannot serve

1. God and Mammon. (Mat_6:24)

2. God and fashion. (1Jn_2:15-18)

3. God and our own lusts. (2Pe_1:4 2Pe_2:20, 2Pe_2:21)

4. God and human glory. (Joh_5:44)

The worship of Jehovah and that of any of the world"s idols will not amalgamate. See reflected in these commands the principles which are to regulate the relation of God"s servants at this hour to the world and to its evil

(1) No toleration of it. (Mat_5:29, Mat_5:30)

(2) No communion with it. (2Co_6:14-18 Eph_5:3, Eph_5:11)

(3) Unceasing war against it. (2Co_10:4 Col_3:5)

3. They must make no league with the Canaanites (ver. 32). The lesson taught is, that believers are to seek their friendships, their alliances, their consorts, etc., elsewhere than among the ungodly. We are not only to keep out of harm"s way, and avoid occasions of sin, but we are to labour to remove from our midst entirely what experience proves to be an incurable snare. J.O.

HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Vers. 20-23. The angel of the covenant.

Certain of the matters on which Jehovah had been speaking immediately before the promise of the angel, assumed that the people would assuredly come to dwell in a land very different from that in which they were now sojourning. God had done so much to call forth faith that, in spite of all ugly symptoms of unbelief and murmuring, he could only go on speaking as if the faith would become a regular habit steadily finding deeper root in the Israelite heart. Thus we find him giving rules for the cultivation of cornlands, vineyards and oliveyards into which they had not yet come; rules for the harvest feast and a feast of ingathering of all the.fruits, when as yet there was no indication of such an ingathering being possible. It was fitting, therefore, that Jehovah should follow up his statement of regulations by speaking confidently of the people"s entrance into the land where the regulations were to be observed. That land was not yet in sight. So far, indeed, they had been travelling away from it rather than towards it, and the district in which they now were was suggestive of anything but cornlands, oliveyards and vineyards.

I THERE IS THE DISTINCT ASSURANCE OF SUffiCIENT GUIDANCE. The reference here is presumably to that glory-cloud in which God was to manifest his presence right onward till Canaan was reached. That cloud was to be unintermitting and unmistakable in its guiding efficiency. Whatever perplexities might come to a devout and attentive Israelite because of other things, no perplexities were possible as to the way in which he should go. He might wonder why God led him in such a way; but that it was really God"s way he need not have any doubt whatever. Thus we see how lovingly God ever deals with the ignorance of his people. What is necessary for them to know is made as plain as the necessity demands. They did not need any discussions and counsels among themselves, any balancing of the pros and cons which might determine them to one path rather than another. God perfectly knew the way and the needs and dangers of the way. He himself is never in doubt as to what his people should do. He is no blind leader of the blind. He was taking Israel into the land which he bad prepared, and the way was prepared as much as the destination. Whatever uncertainty and vacillation there may be about the Christian life comes not from him who leads, but from those who follow. Indeed, our very vacillation becomes more conspicuous as we contrast it with the steady undeviating path marked out by our leader. Compare the announcement that is made concerning the angel here with the demand of Jesus upon his disciples me.

II THERE IS THE INDICATED PERIL OF NEGLECTING THAT GUIDANCE, Not to follow the true guide, of course, means all the loss, pain and destruction that come from getting into false ways. But such consequences are not dwelt upon here. The thoughts of the people are rather directed to the sin they would commit by neglecting the intimations of the angel. "My name is in him." It was not a mere creature of Jehovah, which he used for an index. There was in the guiding-cloud a peculiar manifestation of Jehovah himself, whom the people would neglect if in a fit of self-will they were to turn away and follow the superficial intimations of their earthly surroundings. The great peril was that of coming under the wrath of God because of disobedience. It was only too easy to become used even to the presence of a miraculous cloud. The after conduct of the people shows that the tone of warning here adopted was a wise tone. They were likely to forget how much the presence of the angel demanded from them. That angel was there not only in mercy but in authority. To neglect him was to offend him. And because the cloud, in the ordinary circumstances of it, had nothing to terrify, because the penal consequences of neglecting it did not lie on the surface, it was needful to remind the people how much of holy wrath with unbelief and self-reliance lay within this messenger from God. The negligent Israelite needed to be solemnly assured that there was something even worse than mere failure to attain the earthly Canaan. The foreshadowing is here given of that dreadful doom which fell upon Israel shortly after and kept them in the wilderness for forty years. God can turn all the wanderings of the disobedient into a species of imprisomnent and punishment from himself.

III THERE IS A MOST INSTRUCTIVE INTIMATION AS TO THE RESULTS OF ACCEPTING THAT GUIDANCE. The very results show how indispensable the guidance is. Enemies and adversaries are in front, and God makes no concealment of the fact. If Israel has had already to deal with Amalekites in the comparative barrenness of the Sinaitic peninsula, what may not be expected when the confines of the fertile promised land are reached? That which is to be a good land to Israel, has long been a good land to the nations at present dwelling in it. But though these enemies lie in front, enemies fighting with all the valour of desperation for their homes and their property, yet all will prove victorious for Israel, if only Israel acts obediently towards God"s angel. The enemies of God"s people are not great or little in themselves. That which is great at one time may become little at another, and that which is little, great; and all because of the fluctuations in the spirit of faith. In Exodus 17. we read of Amalekites discomfited and Jehovah threatening utterly to put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. But turn to Numbers 14. and a very different story has to be told of how the Amalekites smote and discomfited the children of Israel. If we would be strong for every conflict and assured of every victory, it must be by a calm looking towards the will of God. The will of God tells the way of God; and when we meet our enemies in that way all their preparations avail them nothing. Y.

HOMILIES BY G.A. GOODHART Ver. 20. Mine angel shall go before thee.

A prepared people have to be led into a prepared place (ver. 20). To lead them a guide is necessary, and God provides a guide.

I THE GUIDE AND HIS OFFICE.

1. His nature and character.

(1) An angel, i.e. , a Divine messenger; not merely a messenger of God"s appointment, but a messenger from God"s presence. Men may be empowered to act as angels; but naturally during his time of probation man is made "lower than the angels." The angel guide is superhuman; he helps to direct affairs in this world, but his home is in another. The history certainly implies so much as this; and no theory save that which assumes the fact of such superhuman guidance can adequately account for the marvellous coincidences through which progress was ensured. The enthusiasm of Moses might fire a people, but it is not enough to fire them; they must be fired at the right moment, and with a definite aim. Some superhuman agent, who could view time from the standpoint of eternity and direct men"s actions in accordance with the real necessities of the position, there must have been. Cf. a game of chess played, as sometimes in India, with living pieces. Success does not depend so much on the strength of the armies on the board as on the skill of the players off the board, who view the whole position from above. History cannot be explained if we ignore the unseen hand which directs and controls the movements of the actors.

(2) My name is in him." The Divine guide must share the Divine character. God"s deputy must be God-like. As viewing things from the standpoint of eternity, he is able to guide through the maze of time; but to view things from the standpoint of eternity he must be a sharer in the life of eternity, the eternal name must be so written on his heart that his guidance may be free from all suspicion of caprice.

2. His office.

(1) To keep in the way. The guide must be a guardian as well. Guides who forget the dangers of the way, intent only on reaching their destination, may push on to the goal themselves, yet lose their charge before they reach it. God-commissioned guides are empowered also to keep and guard those who are given into their care. (Joh_17:12)

(2) To bring to the prepared place. If the guide must be a guardian, the guardian must also be a guide. He must protect during the advance, but he must not protect at the expense of progress; his charge has to be brought through the wilderness, not to be maintained there behind barricades and bulwarks. The people of Jehovah are led by the minister of Jehovah, who secures their entrance into the place prepared, if only they will accept his guidance. A place is prepared for us, as for Israel. (Joh_14:2) A guide also is given us. (Joh_14:16-18) We must not forget his twofold office, to keep in the way and to insist upon our moving forward.

II THOSE GUIDED AND THEIR DUTIES. The angel guide has to direct men; that he may direct them, they must acknowledge his authority. Two things necessary:

1. Reverence. The disposition of the heart which cannot but show itself in the conduct. Assured that the angel bore the Divine name, men must beware of him, assured that he had the right to speak with authority. A command from such a guide needed no reasons to enforce it.

2. Obedience.

(1) Positive. His commands must be obeyed. There must be no delay, no shrinking back.

(2) Negative. There must be no attempt to evade their real fulfilment by a merely apparent and formal compliance. True obedience is obedience of the spirit as well as of the letter; mere literal obedience may consist with actual provocation. Remembering who our guide is, we must remember also that the like duties are required of us in relation to him. To resist the Spirit is to grieve him, and grieving may eventually quench his power with us; one more step seals our destruction that blasphemeth the Spirit of God" sins the unpardonable sin.

III BLESSINGS CONSEQUENT ON FULFILMENT OF DUTIES. We may call them temporal and eternal; blessings of the pilgrimage and blessings of the home. By the way, guarded by our guide, no enemy has power to hurt us; at the last we reach our home, to find there eternal health and happiness.

Concluding question. What is our relation towards the guide whom God has given us? (Heb_2:2-3) G.

HOMILIES BY H.T. ROBJOHNS Vers. 20-33. The Mediatorial Guide.

I send an angel before thee," etc. (Exo_23:20) We omit from homiletic treatment Exo 20:22-23:19, containing a large amount of minute legislation; but if any one for special reason wishes to deal with any of these laws, he will find a careful and exhaustive analysis in Lunge on "Exodus." Most of them have strict and sole reference to the Hebrew Commonwealth, and are obsolete for the Christian. This passage contains a series of promises, which all centre in an august personage, called here an "angel." That this is so will determine the character of our exposition, and the Christian uses of it.

I THE ANGEL. None other than the "Angel of Jehovah," the Angel-God of the Old Testament, i.e. , the Lord Jesus Christ. Reference is here made to those many epiphanies, which preceded the Great Epiphany of the incarnation. That these were appearances of the Lord Jesus may be argued:

1. It seems reasonable that there should be anticipations of the incarnation. True, we could not prophesy them beforehand; but when they do take place, they commend themselves to our reason. It seems in a sense natural, that He, who was coming to dwell here, should once and again "come town to deliver.

2. The history of the appearance of the angel shows:

(1) That he was Divine.

(i.) Perfection implied in the authority he wields, and the promises he gives. (ii.) Swears by himself. (iii.) The object of worship. (iv.) Subject of Divine names and attributes.

(2) And yet there is that which differentiates Him from the Eternal Father. All this accords with the doctrine of the Trinity; and that the angel was Christ the Lord.

II HIS OFFICE. We assume now that the angel was the Lord Jesus; that what he was to the ancient Church he is now. He is ever present sometimes unseen often recognised. His office as here set forth is that of:

1. A Leader. He led Israel, mainly by the pillar of cloud; but not in such a way as to dispense with Israel"s action. The Lord acts, but never so as to swamp our individuality. It was for Israel:

(1) To watch the cloud:

(2) To exercise their own judgment on minor matters. See Num_10:31. Our danger is to rely exclusively on our own judgment, and not tolook for the waving of That Hand.

2. A Sentinel. "To keep in the way" in the double sense;

(1) To hold us in the path, and

(2) to defend us on that path. The practical truth here is, that Christ"s keeping is not absolute or independent of our will and action. He watches, that we may watch. This vital practical truth seems to us to be well illustrated by Swedenborg"s doctrine of the "Proprium;" which is well exhibited in "Outlines of the Religion and Philosophy of Swedenborg" by Dr. Parsons. Ch. 8:3. Moral magistracy. "He will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in Him what can this mean? There is reference here to the moral magistracy exercised over us, on our pilgrim way, noting transgression, visiting for it, chastising, Chastening, with a view to ultimate removal. Appeal to life for evidence of the reality of that corrective jurisdiction.

III OUR DUTY.

1. Loyalty to God, ver. 25.

2. Recognition of his representative; i.e., the angel; i.e. , the Lord Jesus.

3. Obedience; i.e. , to the leader, etc. (vers. 21, 22.) N.B. "If thou shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak." Mark how God identifies himself with the angel.

4. Avoidance of fellowship and complicity with evil (vers. 32, 33). Any intercourse for the Jew with the heathen was full of peril. It seems now to be assumed that no companionship for the Christian has any danger. This assumption false, as the tendency to worldliness and open sin shows.

5. Active antagonism to all Anti-theisms (v. 24). It will not do to be content with standing on the defensive. Has not the time now come to carry the war into the enemy"s camp?

IV THE PROMISES. These cover really all the blessings consequent on a life of practical godliness. Thinking rather of our own position than of the literal meaning of the promises in relation to the life of Israel, they may be classified as follow:

1. God on our side (vers. 22, 23).

2. Our daily provision blessed (ver. 25). There shall be enough; but whatever there is shall have gladness with it.

3. Health (ver. 25).

4. Wealth (ver. 26).

5. Long life (ver. 26).

6. Influence, before which even adversaries shall bend (ver. 27).

7. Enlargement of power and of room for its exercise (v. 31).

8. In the bestowal of these blessings, our Father in heaven will show to usgreat considerateness (vers. 29, 30).

9. Safe conduct to the promised rest (ver. 20). Those who know the argument of Binney: it possible to make the best of Both Worlds?" will well understand how, under what conditions, and with what limitations, blessings of this sort mainly secular in character fall to the lot of the Lord"s redeemed. R

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Exo_23:20-25

DIVINE GUIDANCE

I. There is a divine way. There is a divine way for individuals. Joseph, Abraham, Daniel, and David were led in the right way. The saints of the Old and New Testaments were guided in the divine way. And all those who seek divine guidance may hope to be led in the right divine way. There is a divine way for nations, and those nations that seek to walk in the way of national uprightness, and recognition of God’s supremacy, will attain a true national greatness and perpetuity. And there was such a way for the Israelites.

1. This way was through the wilderness. Such are the conditions of our present existence. Every way to greatness, to glory, and to divinely-prepared places is through the wilderness. This is the law of nature as well as of grace.

2. This way was beset with enemies. There are always seen and unseen forces and powers opposing the onward and upward course of those who are striving after nobility and the accomplishment of divine purposes. The march of the Israelites was opposed, and the nearer they came to the realisation of their hopes the more numerous did their foes appear. The greatest struggle takes place just before the final victory. The valley of decision is the valley of stern conflict. The fact that the powers of evil concentrate their skill and their strength may be taken as a sign that we are in the right way.

3. This divine way was one of many privations. Travellers must not expect the pleasures and comforts of home. The march of the Israelites was not a summer’s holiday. We must expect privations, and maintain a quiet faith and a spirit of patient and heroic endurance.

4. This divine way, then, was contrary to mere human liking. Notice the frequent complainings of the children of Israel. And oh, God’s way is not our way! Ours may be pleasant at first but bitter at last, but God’s way is the reverse; and yet not exactly, for sweets are graciously mingled with the bitters. There is hunger, but there is manna. There is thirst, but there is clear water from the smitten rock. There is perplexity, but there is an angel to guide and protect.

II. This way leads to divinely-prepared places. All is well that ends well, and this way is well, for it brings to a prepared place. Many are willing to endure if they are certain of securing rich results. Hopes are blasted in mere human pursuits; but if we faithfully fulfil divine conditions we shall come to divinely-prepared places. The Almighty has prepared all lands. His wisdom planned, and His power built up, the goodly frame of this terrestrial universe. He has made the green earth, and stretched above the blue sky in striking contrast. His Divine hand has shaped every form of loveliness. But the Almighty seemed to come forth in the greatness of His love, in the depth of His wisdom, and in the energy of His power, in order to make Palestine the most fruitful and beautiful of lands, the joy of all climes, the song of all countries, the goodly heritage of the host of nations. How eminently fitting that this lovely land should be selected to be the dwelling-place of His chosen people, and the magnificent stage on which should be enacted the most glorious transactions of all time. Palestine was a specially prepared place, and to it the wilderness way was the course for the Israelites. Heaven is a specially prepared place. “I go to prepare a place for you.” A place in the best of all places. A home in the best of homes. A dwelling-place where all the abodes are mansions. A seat where all the seats are thrones. A city where all the citizens are kings. What matters it though the way be long and sometimes dreary, so long as the place is so attractive; and we cannot fail to reach it if we obey divine directions.

III. The travellers on this way are favoured with a Divine Guide. We cannot tell whether this angel was a created angel, or the second person in the Trinity—the angel that was with the Church in the wilderness. But we learn his greatness. The divine name was in him. The divine name is indicative of the divine character We presume the name was in him as a reflection of the divine glory, as a granted prerogative, as a token of delegated authority, as investing with glorious attributes, and imparting unusual dignity and majesty. This name was in him as a power to inspire religious awe, and to restrain irreverent trifling. “Provoke him not; for My name is in him.” This angel was competent. Unerring wisdom never appoints the incompetent to important offices. And this angel was appointed by infinite wisdom. He knows all the way, understands all its dangers and difficulties, and is competent both to guide and to protect. Jesus Christ, the angel of the new covenant, is a perfect guide, fully competent to direct and protect. He has trodden every inch of the way. He has personally inspected the course. He gives ample directions to those who are to go before us to keep us in the way, and to bring us to the divinely-prepared place.

IV. Divine promises are contingent on the faithful pursuits of divine methods. God promises seed-time and harvest, but we only expect harvest as the result of prepared soil and planted seed. Many of those to whom the promises were given did not enter the promised land because they did not carry out the conditions. “Ye shall serve the Lord your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water”—is a law and a promise rightly read for all economies. We must obey the voice of the angel; and then God will be an enemy to our enemies, and afflict those who afflict us. Retribution must fall sooner or later upon the heads of all persecutors.

The divine methods may be thus summarised—Caution, obedience, self-restraint, and the entire destruction of all that has the remotest tendency to damage the moral nature. Caution—“Beware of him.” Watch with intense interest as you would watch a guide in some difficult pass. “Obey his voice.” Listen attentively to the utterance. Interpret as to the spirit. Eagerly catch the solemn whisper of the infinite. Self-restraint. “Provoke him not.” Do not trifle with your guide. He is very merciful, but there is a period when even mercy seems to expire. “He will not pardon your transgressions.” The doom of triflers is sealed. The despisers have only a gloomy prospect. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.” “Provoke him not.” “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry.”

Thou shalt not only refrain from bowing down to the gods of the heathen; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. The material and the moral are strangely interblended. The very presence of the suggestive material image will surely damage the moral nature. The spiritual requires to be carefully guarded. We cannot be too watchful.

Amid the din of human voices let us have an ear open to the Divine voice. Let us believe in angelic ministry. Amid many seductive ways that present themselves, let us cleave to the one divine way; and through divine grace, and through faith in the Redeemer, we shall come to the prepared place.

—W. Burrows, B.A.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES

THE ANGEL OF THE COVENANT.—Exo_23:20-23

The people had prayed for a mediator. (See on Exo_20:19.) God now appoints a greater than Moses to act in that capacity. The present section reveals the nature and office of the mysterious person, the proper attitude towards, and the reward of obedience to Him.

I. His nature was divine.

1. Equal with God.

(1.) Bearing the divine name; “My name is in Him.” The incommunicable covenant name of Jehovah.

(2.) Performing divine actions; “Mine angel shall go,” &c., “I will cut them off.” So New Testament, “I and My Father are one.”

2. Distinct from the personality of the speaker, “I send,” so New Testament, “The Father which sent Me.”

For an able resume of this argument for the Divinity of Christ, see Liddon’s “Bampton Lectures,” pp. 52–56. (See also Genesis 32; Hos_12:3-4; Jos_5:14; Jdg_2:12; Mal_3:1, &c.)

II. His office was to conduct the covenant people to the fulfilment of God’s covenant engagement.

1. Providence. “To keep thee in the way.” So Christ “upholds all things by the word of His power.” “In Him all things consist.” Generally and particularly He preserves those who trust in Him (Joh_10:28).

2. Redemption. “To bring thee into the place which I have prepared.” Israel’s redemption is only half accomplished as yet. So Christ’s eternal redemption is not complete till the last enemy is destroyed (Joh_14:2-3).

III. The proper attitude towards Him.

1. Fear. Carefulness not to displease Him. Christ is the Saviour of those only who believe in Him. To others He is a “savour of death unto death.”

2. Obedience. “Obey His voice.” So says the Father in the New Testament (Mat_17:5); and Himself (Mat_28:20). This implies—

(1.) Trust in His person.

(2.) Subjection to His authority.

(3.) The prosecution of His commands.

IV. The reward of obedience to Him, Exo_23:22-23.

(1.) Identification and sympathy with us in our cause. “I will be an enemy,” &c.

(2.) Victory over our foes (1Co_15:57), world, flesh, devil, death, &c.

(3.) Inheritance in the promised land.

Learn—

i. (2Ti_1:9), That God’s grace has been manifested in Jesus Christ from the beginning of the world. ii. That God’s grace has been, through Jesus Christ, with His people up to the present moment. iii. And will be till the end of the world.—J. W. Burn.

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON

Covenant Angel! Exo_23:20. When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, how were they guided on their way to Canaan through the trackless desert? “The Lord went before them.” In chapter 14 this glorious One is called “The Angel of God”—Isaiah speaks of him as the “Angel of His Presence.” This verse shows that the only-begotten Son is referred to for four reasons.

(1) “My name is in Him;” whereas we are told that Jehovah is the Lord, and that His glory He will not give to another.

(2) “Obey His voice;” which counsel answers to that on the Mount of Transfiguration, “Hear ye Him.”

(3) “Provoke Him not;” an expression gathering deep and awful meaning when we read the warning of the Apostle, “Let us not tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted.”

(4) “He will not pardon your transgressions;” a monition singularly harmonised by the inquiry, “Who can forgive sin but God only?” Christ was the Angel who was with the Church in the wilderness. This was that Christ of God, who, in all the Church’s wanderings and dangers, has evermore been her Leader and Defender.

“Anywhere with Jesus, says the Christian heart;

Let Him take me where He will, so we do not part.”

Obedience and Observance! Exo_23:21.

(1) Nothing, says Robertson, can be love to God which does not shape itself into obedience. We remember the anecdote of the Roman commander who forbade an engagement with the enemy, and the first transgressor was his own son. He accepted a challenge from the leader of the other host, slew and spoiled him. He then, in triumphant feeling, carried the spoils to his father’s tent; but the Roman father refused to recognise the instinct which prompted this as deserving of the name of love. Disobedience contradicted it.

(2) Whereas love is the fulfilling of the Law. The other graces shine like the precious stones of nature, with their own peculiar lustre and varied hues; but the diamond is white. In white all the other colours are united; and in love all the other graces and virtues are centred. Love is the only source of true obedience to the commands of God. If Israel only learned to love God with all their heart, they would necessarily love His Law, which is the transcript of His Divine Mind.

“Nay, man’s chief wisdom’s love—the love of God.

The new religion—final, perfect, pure—

Was that of Christ and love. His great command—

His all-sufficing precept—was it not love!”

—Bailey.

Pilgrim Path! Exo_23:23. Goethe, the world’s favourite, confessed, when he was 80 years old, that he could not remember being in a really happy state of mind even for a few weeks together; and that, when he wished to feel comfortable, he had to veil his self-consciousness. The following is the closing sentence of his autobiography: “Child! child! no more. The coursers of time, lashed, as it were, by invisible spirits, hurry on the light car of our destiny; and all that we can do is, in cool self-possession, to hold the reins with a firm hand, and to guide the wheels, now to the left, now to the right, a stone here, a precipice there. Whither it is hurrying, who can tell? And who indeed can remember the point from which it started?” What a contrast to Israel’s position! “Mine Angel shall go before thee.” Happy Christian Israelite, he knows he traverses his pilgrim path under Divine guidance, and that there is no uncertainty as to the “whither.”

“Though in the paths of death I tread,

With gloomy horrors overspread,

My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,

For Thou, O Lord, art with me still.”

—Addison.

Worldliness. Exo_23:24-25. Pope gives us an affecting account of the death of Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. After having been master of £50,000 per annum, he was reduced to the deepest distress by his vice and extravagance, and breathed his last moments in the mean apartment of an inn. Such is often the end of worldliness. It is said that the Duke of Alva starved his prisoners, after he had given them quarter, saying, “Though I promised your lives, I promised not to find you food.” In the same manner does the world deceive its votaries. The Persians, writes Buck, when they obtained a victory, selected the noblest slave, and made him a king for three days. They clothed him with royal robes, and ministered to him all the pleasures he could choose; but at the end of all he was to die as a sacrifice to mirth and folly. So worldliness is shortlived; and when its feast is ended, the guests are only like those who have partaken of poisoned food, or who “have fed on ashes.”

“Ay, beauteous is the world, and many a joy

Floats through its wide dominion. But, alas!

When we would seize the winged good, it flies,

And step by step, along the path of life,

Allures our yearning spirits to the grave.”

—Goethe.

The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.

Relation of Jehovah to Israel. - The declaration of the rights conferred by Jehovah upon His people is closed by promises, through which, on the one hand, God insured to the nation the gifts and benefits involved in their rights, and, on the other hand, sought to promote that willingness and love which were indispensable to the fulfilment of the duties incumbent upon every individual in consequence of the rights conferred upon them. These promises secured to the people not only the protection and help of God during their journey through the desert, and in the conquest of Canaan, but also preservation and prosperity when they had taken possession of the land.

Exo 23:20-27

Jehovah would send an angel before them, who should guard them on the way from injury and destruction, and bring them to the place prepared for them, i.e., to Canaan. The name of Jehovah was in this angel (Exo 23:21), that is to say, Jehovah revealed Himself in him; and hence he is called in Exo 33:15-16, the face of Jehovah, because the essential nature of Jehovah was manifested in him. This angel was not a created spirit, therefore, but the manifestation of Jehovah Himself, who went before them in the pillar of cloud and fire, to guide and to defend them (Exo 13:21). But because it was Jehovah who was guiding His people in the person of the angel, He demanded unconditional obedience (Exo 23:21), and if they provoked Him (תּמּר for תּמר, see Exo 13:18) by disobedience, He would not pardon their transgression; but if they followed Him and hearkened to His voice, He would be an enemy to their enemies, and an adversary to their adversaries (Exo 23:22). And when the angel of the Lord had brought them to the Canaanites and exterminated the latter, Israel was still to yield the same obedience, by not serving the gods of the Canaanites, or doing after their works, i.e., by not making any idolatrous images, but destroying them (these works), and smiting to pieces the pillars of their idolatrous worship (מצבת does not mean statues erected as idols, but memorial stones or columns dedicated to idols: see my Comm. on Kg1 14:23), and serving Jehovah alone. Then would He bless them in the land with bountiful provision, health, fruitfulness, and length of life (Exo 23:23-26). "Bread and water" are named, as being the provisions which are indispensable to the maintenance of life, as in Isa 3:1; Isa 30:20; Isa 33:16. The taking away of "sickness" (cf. Exo 15:26) implied the removal of everything that could endanger life. The absence of anything that miscarried, or was barren, insured the continuance and increase of the nation; and the promise that their days should be fulfilled, i.e., that they should not be liable to a premature death (cf. Isa 65:20), was a pledge of their well-being.

Exo 23:27

But the most important thing of all for Israel was the previous conquest of the promised land. And in this God gave it a special promise of His almighty aid. "I will send My fear before thee." This fear was to be the result of the terrible acts of God performed on behalf of Israel, the rumour of which would spread before them and fill their enemies with fear and trembling (cf. Exo 15:14.; Deu 2:26; and Jos 2:11, where the beginning of the fulfilment is described), throwing into confusion and putting to flight every people against whom (בּהם - אשׁר) Israel came. ערף את־איב נתן to give the enemy to the neck, i.e., to cause him to turn his back, or flee (cf. Psa 18:41; Psa 21:13; Jos 7:8, Jos 7:12). אליך: in the direction towards thee.

Exo 23:28

In addition to the fear of God, hornets (הצּרעה construed as a generic word with the collective article), a very large species of wasp, that was greatly dreaded both by man and beast on account of the acuteness of its sting, should come and drive out the Canaanites, of whom three tribes are mentioned instar omnium, from before the Israelites. Although it is true that Aelian (hist. anim. 11, 28) relates that the Phaselians, who dwelt near the Solymites, and therefore probably belonged to the Canaanites, were driven out of their country by wasps, and Bochart (Hieroz. iii. pp. 409ff.) has collected together accounts of different tribes that have been frightened away from their possessions by frogs, mice, and other vermin, "the sending of hornets before the Israelites" is hardly to be taken literally, not only because there is not a word in the book of Joshua about the Canaanites being overcome and exterminated in any such way, but chiefly on account of Jos 24:12, where Joshua says that God sent the hornet before them, and drove out the two kings of the Amorites, referring thereby to their defeat and destruction by the Israelites through the miraculous interposition of God, and thus placing the figurative use of the term hornet beyond the possibility of doubt. These hornets, however, which are very aptly described in Wis. 12:8, on the basis of this passage, as προδρόμους, the pioneers of the army of Jehovah, do not denote merely varii generis mala, as Rosenmller supposes, but acerrimos timoris aculeos, quibus quodammodo volantibus rumoribus pungebantur, ut fugerent (Augustine, quaest. 27 in Jos.). If the fear of God which fell upon the Canaanites threw them into such confusion and helpless despair, that they could not stand before Israel, but turned their backs towards them, the stings of alarm which followed this fear would completely drive them away. Nevertheless God would not drive them away at once, "in one year," lest the land should become a desert for want of men to cultivate it, and the wild beasts should multiply against Israel; in other words, lest the beasts of prey should gain the upper hand and endanger the lives of man and beast (Lev 26:22; Eze 14:15, Eze 14:21), which actually was the case after the carrying away of the ten tribes (Kg2 17:25-26). He would drive them out by degrees (מעט מעט, only used here and in Deu 7:22), until Israel was sufficiently increased to take possession of the land, i.e., to occupy the whole of the country. This promise was so far fulfilled, according to the books of Joshua and Judges, that after the subjugation of the Canaanites in the south and north of the land, when all the kings who fought against Israel had been smitten and slain and their cities captured, the entire land was divided among the tribes of Israel, in order that they might exterminate the remaining Canaanites, and take possession of those portions of the land that had not yet been conquered (Jos 13:1-7). But the different tribes soon became weary of the task of exterminating the Canaanites, and began to enter into alliance with them, and were led astray by them to the worship of idols; whereupon God punished them by withdrawing His assistance, and they were oppressed and humiliated by the Canaanites because of their apostasy from the Lord (Judg 1 and 2).

Exo 23:31-33

The divine promise closes with a general indication of the boundaries of the land, whose inhabitants Jehovah would give up to the Israelites to drive them out, and with a warning against forming alliances with them and their gods, lest they should lead Israel astray to sin, and thus become a snare to it. On the basis of the promise in Gen 15:18, certain grand and prominent points are mentioned, as constituting the boundaries towards both the east and west. On the west the boundary extended from the Red Sea (see Exo 13:18) to the sea of the Philistines, or Mediterranean Sea, the south-eastern shore of which was inhabited by the Philistines; and on the east from the desert, i.e., according to Deu 11:24, the desert of Arabia, to the river (Euphrates). The poetic suffix מו affixed to גּרשׁתּ answers to the elevated oratorical style. Making a covenant with them and their gods would imply the recognition and toleration of them, and, with the sinful tendencies of Israel, would be inevitably followed by the worship of idols. The first כּי in Exo 23:33 signifies if; the second, imo, verily, and serves as an energetic introduction to the apodosis. מוקשׁ, a snare (vid., Exo 10:7); here a clause of destruction, inasmuch as apostasy from God is invariably followed by punishment (Jdg 2:3).

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

23:20-33 If the people kept the covenant stipulations just listed, the Covenant Lord agreed to protect them from enemies (23:22-23) and from illness (23:25-26) and give them a land to possess (23:27-31). These covenant promises were contingent upon absolute loyalty to the Covenant Lord. In particular, it would be an act of rebellion (23:21) to worship the gods (23:24, 32-33) of the dispossessed peoples.

23:20-23 an angel: Probably the “angel of the Lord,” who was often a manifestation of the Lord himself (see 3:2).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way--The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

(20) I send an Angel before thee.—Kalisch considers Moses to have been the “angel” or “messenger;” others understand one of the created angelic host. But most commentators see in the promise the first mention of the “Angel of the Covenant,” who is reasonably identified with the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Eternal Son and Word of God. When the promise is retracted on account of the sin of the golden calf, it is in the words, “I will not go up with thee” (Exo_33:3).

THE PROMISES OF GOD TO ISRAEL, IF THE COVENANT IS KEPT.

(20-33) The Book of the Covenant terminates, very appropriately, with a series of promises. God is “the rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” He chooses to “reward men after their works,” and to set before them “the recompense of the reward.” He “knows whereof we are made,” and by what motives we are influenced. Self-interest, the desire of our own good, is one of the strongest of them. If Israel will keep His covenant, they will enjoy the following blessings :—(1) The guidance and protection of His angel till Canaan is reached; (2) God’s help against their adversaries, who will, little by little, be driven out; (3) the ultimate possession of the entire country between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea on the one hand, the Desert and the Euphrates on the other; (4) a blessing upon their flocks and herds, which shall neither be barren nor cast their young; and (5) a blessing upon themselves, whereby they will escape sickness and enjoy a long term of life. All these advantages, however, are conditional upon obedience, and may be forfeited.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. an angel] such as guided and protected the patriarchs (Gen_24:7; Gen_31:11; Gen_48:16); cf. Exo_14:19 (on Exo_32:34, Exo_33:2, see the notes), Num_20:16. It is true, the expression here used is ‘an angel’ (so Num_20:16 : contrast ch. Exo_3:2); but he appears in v. 21 as Jehovah’s full representative (see on Exo_3:2). Elsewhere in JE the pillar of cloud (see on Exo_13:21), Hobab (Num_10:31), and the ark (Num_10:33), are severally described as guiding Israel in the wilderness.

20, 21. An angel is to guide Israel on its journey to Canaan: his instructions must be received with the same respect and fear as those of Jehovah Himself; for Jehovah will Himself be speaking in him.

20–33. Hortatory epilogue. The laws which Israel is to observe have been defined: and now Jehovah declares what He will do for His people if it is obedient to His voice (v. 22): He will give it prosperity, freedom from sickness and long life, success in its contests with the nations of Canaan, and extension of territory afterwards. Comp. the similar, but longer and more elaborated, hortatory discourses (including curses on disobedience), concluding the codes of H (Lev_26:3-45) and Dt. (Deuteronomy 28). It is remarkable that the commands which Israel is to obey are not those embodied in ch. Exo_20:22 to Exo_23:19, but (v. 22) those to be given it in the future by the angel on the way to Canaan. Perhaps (Bä.) the passage was written originally for a different context: but even if that were the case, it must be intended, where it now stands, to suggest motives for the observance of the preceding laws.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

But, if thou shall indeed obey his voice,.... Or "hearkening hearken", (n) to it attentively, listen to it, and diligently and constantly observe and obey in whatever he shall direct and order:

and do all that I speak; by him; or whatsoever he had spoke, or was about to speak; for as yet all the laws and statutes were not delivered, especially those of the ceremonial kind:

then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries; which they should either meet with in their passage through the wilderness, or when they came into the land of Canaan; signifying hereby that he would protect them from them, subdue them under them, and give them victory over them, as that they should be utterly destroyed, and so way made for their possession of their land, as in the following words.

(n) "audiendo audieris", Pagninus, Montanus, Drusius, Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

An Angel - See Exo 3:2, Exo 3:8; Jos 5:13; Isa 63:9.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Angel; my only son. (Philo) --- St. Paul says, they tempted Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians x. 9,) who is styled, the angel of the covenant, Malachias iii. 1. Some apply this to Josue, others to St. Michael, who, from the cloud, conducted the army of Israel. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

To wit, Christ, the Angel of the covenant, as may be gathered both from the following words, because pardon of sin, which is God’s prerogative, Mar 2:7, is here ascribed to him, and God’s name is in him, and by comparing other scriptures, as Exo 32:34; Act 7:38,39; 1Co 10:9. See Exo 13:21; 14:19.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

20-22. I send an Angel before thee — On the nature of this Angel see note at Gen_16:7. An angel who had in him Jehovah’s name, and could pardon transgressions; who was not to be provoked, but observed with reverence and obeyed; who was to go before Israel, keep them in the way, and bring them into the blessed land of promise — He must assuredly be a personal manifestation of Jehovah himself. The same divine Being was symbolized in the pillar of cloud and fire, (Exo_13:21-22.)

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold, I send an angel before thee - The angel of the covenant: Accordingly the Israelites in the wilderness are said to tempt Christ. It is promised that this blessed anger should keep them in the way, though it lay through a wilderness first, and afterwards through their enemies country; and thus Christ has prepared a place for his followers.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Angel

(See Scofield "Heb 1:4").

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Concerning the Continuation of the Journey

v. 20. Behold, I send an Angel before thee to keep thee in the way and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. This special guiding and protecting Angel was the Son of God Himself, for in Him Jehovah was revealed; in Him, as the Angel of the face of God, the innermost essence of God was manifested. Under His almighty guidance their journey would prosper.

v. 21. Beware of Him, and obey His voice, provoke Him not, do not embitter Him; for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. The salvation of the children of Israel would depend upon their obedience, implicit, cheerful obedience.

v. 22. But if thou shalt indeed obey His voice, and do all that I speak, as the Lord’s word and His word would be identical, then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies and an adversary unto thine adversaries; all those that bore or showed ill will to the children of Israel the Lord would requite in kind.

v. 23. For Mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I will cut them off, destroy, annihilate, extirpate them.

v. 24. Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works, in no manner become guilty of false worship, of idolatry; but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, the destruction of the heathen tribes of Canaan being expressly commanded here, and quite break down their images, break in pieces, smash the carved pillars used for idolatrous purposes.

v. 25. And ye shall serve the Lord, your God, and He shall bless thy bread and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. Bread and water are symbols of welfare, and well-being and health were to be the reward of faithfulness.

v. 26. There shall nothing cast their young nor be barren in thy land; the population of men as well as of domestic animals was not to be diminished by epidemics of miscarriages and by barrenness. The number of thy days I will fulfill; for a long life, under the blessing of God, is a reward of His goodness and mercy.

v. 27. I will send My fear before thee, causing all the heathen to be filled with apprehension and dread, and I will destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs upon thee, in flight, without having so much as begun a battle.

v. 28. And I will send hornets before thee, a figurative expression to denote the utmost terror, caused probably by some severe epidemic which the Lord sent to frighten the Canaanites, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite from before thee.

v. 29. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year, as the Lord could very easily have done, lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee, their numbers as yet not being great enough to occupy the entire country. Cf Deu 7:22; Lev 26:22; Jos 13:1-7.

v. 30. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased and inherit the land; while the heathen nations as such would be destroyed, individuals would still be found throughout the country until such a time as the growing number of the Israelites would crowd them out.

v. 31. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea, on the south, even unto the sea of the Philistines, the Mediterranean, on the west, and from the desert of Arabia, on the southeast, unto the river, the Euphrates, on the north, these being the ideal boundaries of the Promised Land; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and thou shalt drive them out before thee.

v. 32. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, be inveigled into forming an alliance with them, nor with their gods, the idols which they had made for themselves.

v. 33. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against Me; if they would remain in the land, their presence and their idolatrous customs would be a continual temptation to Israel, as the Lord well knew; for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee. Even so, the intercourse of Christians with the children of this world all too often proves a snare to them, and they are lured into the idolatrous customs of the unbelievers. It is to our greatest advantage not to provoke the Lord at any time, lest He take His gracious presence from us. It is only by staying with Him that we are safe forever.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues telling Moses his laws for the people of Israel.

Be attentive to him

"Listen to him"

Do not provoke him, for he will not pardon

"If you provoke him, he will not pardon"

My name is on him

Here "name" refers to God's authority. AT: "He has my authority" (See: Metonymy)

If you indeed obey his voice

Here "voice" represents what the angel says. AT: "If you carefully obey what he says" (See: Metonymy)

an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries

These two phrases mean the same thing and are used for emphasis. (See: Parallelism)

translationWords

angel

obey

forgive

transgress

adversary

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

הנה אנכי שלח מלאך BEHOLD, I SEND A MESSENGER [BEFORE THEE] — Here they were informed that they would once sin and that the Divine Majesty would have to tell them, (Exodus 33:3) “for ‘I’ will not go up among thee” (cf. Exodus Rabbah 32:3).

אשר הכנתי means, WHICH I HAVE PREPARED in order to give unto you. This is the literal meaning of the verse. The Midrash (taking the word as connected in meaning with the term כִּוֵן “to put a thing in a line with” or “to make it correspond with” another thing) explains אל המקום אשר הכנתי to signify “to the place opposite to which I have long since established the seat of my Glory” (“the place” therefore denotes the Temple; cf. Rashi on Exodus 15:17). This is, according to the Midrash, one of the verses which implicitly state that the Temple in Heaven is situated exactly opposite (מְכֻוָּן) that on the earth (Midrash Tanchuma, Mishpatim 18)

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

BEHOLD, I SEND AN ANGEL BEFORE THEE. “Here they were informed that they would sin [by worshipping the golden calf] and that the Divine Glory would be saying to them, For I will not go up in the midst of thee. FOR MY NAME IS IN HIM. This is connected with the beginning of this verse: Take heed of him, for My Name is associated with him. Our Rabbis explained that the angel referred to is Mattatron ]. whose name in numerical value is equal to that of his Master, for the sum of the letter-numbers of the name Mattatron is equal to that of Sha-dai (Almighty).” All this is the language of Rashi. In Eileh Shemoth Rabbah I have likewise seen that one of the Sages interprets the verse in this way, referring to the worshipping of the calf.But one must ask that [we find that] this decree of I send an angel before thee did not actually take place, for the Holy One, blessed be He, had said to Moses, And I will send an angel before thee… for I will not go up in the midst of thee, but Moses pleaded for mercy on this and said, If Thy presence go not, carry us not up hence. For wherein now shall it be known that I have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people? is it not in that Thou goest with us?, Verses 15-16. And the Holy One, blessed be He, consented to him and told him, I will do also this thing that thou hast spoken., Verse 17. Thus also did the Rabbis interpret it: “Even as a guide we refused to accept him, as it is written, If Thy presence go not, carry us not up hence.”, Verses 15-16.The answer according to this opinion of the Rabbis is that this decree was not fulfilled in the days of Moses, and it is with reference to this that Moses said, So that we are distinguished, I and Thy people, Verse 16. and G-d answered him, For thou hast found grace in My sight, and I know thee by name, Verse 17. and He further said, And all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Eternal [that I am about to do];, 34:10. however, after the death of Moses our Teacher He did send with them the angel. It is with reference to this that Scripture states: And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him: ‘Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? ‘And he said: ‘Nay, but I am captain of the host of the Eternal; I am now come.’ And there you will see that Joshua asked him, What saith my lord unto his servant?, Verse 14. Now the angel did not command Joshua anything in connection with his appearance to him, but merely told him, Put off thy shoe from off thy foot, Verse 15. nor did he explain why he came. But the vision was for the purpose of informing Joshua that from now on there would be an angel sent before them to go out in the host in battle. It is with reference to this that he said, I am now come. And so did the Sages say in the Tanchuma:, 18. “The angel said to Joshua: ‘I am he who came in the days of Moses your master, and he pushed me away and did not want me to go with him.’” The Rabbis have also said expressly: “The promise that Israel would not be turned over to ‘a captain’ all the days of Moses now became void; thus as soon as Moses died ‘the captain’ returned to his position, for Joshua saw him, as it is said, And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho… And he said, ‘Nay, but I am captain of the host of the Eternal; I am now come.’ This is why it is said, Behold, I send an angel before thee.”By way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], this angel they were promised here is the redeeming angel, 31:13) where he quotes this text of Ramban, and explains that the reference is to the Shechinah (the Divine Glory). See in the text Note 419. in whom is the Great Name, for in Y-a-h the Eternal is an everlasting Rock. This is [what He meant when] He said, I am the G-d of Beth-el, for it is the custom of the King to dwell in His Palace. He is called mal’ach (angel) because the whole conduct of this world is by that attribute. And our Rabbis have said that this is Mattatron, a name which signifies “the guide of the road” — I have already explained this in Seder Bo ]. — and this is the sense of the phrase here, [Behold, I send an angel before thee,] to keep thee in the way. — And to bring thee into the place which I have prepared, referring to the Sanctuary, as it is written, the Sanctuary, O Eternal, which Thy hands have established. The meaning of the expression: which I have prepared, is “for Myself, to be My holy and beautiful house,” for there the Throne is perfect. I will yet mention the Rabbis’ meaning in saying that Mattatron’s name [in the sum of letter-numbers] is even as the Name of his Master. His voice is thus the voice of the living G-d, and it is mandatory upon us to hearken to His voice by the mouth of the prophets. Or the meaning may be that “they should not mutilate the shoots” of faith and thus come to abandon the Oral Torah, just as the Rabbis have interpreted: “And they have spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel — this refers to the Oral Torah.” Thus the explanation of the expression, and hearken unto his voice, is “to My words.” Similarly He said, But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I speak. Onkelos hinted at this, for he translated [‘ki sh’mi b’kirbo’ — for My Name is in him]: “for in My Name is his word,” as he speaks with it. He said, Then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, for even with the attribute of mercy I will be an enemy to them; and an adversary unto thine adversaries — through him, [the angel], through the attribute of justice. Hence He explained, For Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorite etc. and the Canaanite etc. and I will cut him off, when he will bring you to them, that we may know that it is He [through the attribute of justice] that will cut them off. He mentioned them in the singular [“and I will cut him off], for He will cut them all off as if they were one man. Now when this angel dwelled in the midst of Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have said, For I will not go up in the midst of thee — [for He said] for My Name is in him, so He was in the midst of Israel! But when they sinned by worshipping the golden calf He wanted to remove His Divine Glory from their midst, and that one of His angels should go before them as His messenger, and Moses pleaded for mercy, and He again caused His Divine Glory to dwell amongst them as before. There I will explain the verses, with the help of G-d.The Rabbis have also hinted to this in Midrash Rabbah in that section. Thus they said: “Behold, I send an angel. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘The one who guarded the fathers will guard the children.’ And thus you find with Abraham, that when he blessed Isaac he said, He will send His angel before thee. In the case of Jacob we find [that he blessed Joseph’s sons by saying], The angel who hath redeemed me etc., 48:16. He said to them: ‘He redeemed me from the hand of Esau; He redeemed me from the hand of Laban; He fed me and sustained me in the years of famine.’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses: ‘Now too, the one who guarded the fathers will guard the children,’ as it is said, Behold, I send an angel before thee.” Again the Rabbis have said there clearly: “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘Be heedful of the messenger, for he does not go back on his mission; he is the attribute of justice, be not rebellious against him, etc.’” In any case, according to all authorities the Midrash I have mentioned is true, that as long as Moses lived the angel who was captain of the host, Verse 14. did not go with them, for Moses filled his place, similarly to that which is said, And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed. And in the days of Joshua it was necessary that the angel captain of the host of the Eternal, Verse 14. come to him to fight their battles, this being Gabriel who fights for them, and this was why Joshua saw him with his sword drawn in his hand, because he came to execute vengeance upon the nations, and chastisements upon the peoples.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.