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"description": "According to the Hebrew Bible, God sent a Destroyer to slay the firstborn of Egypt:\n\n“And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow the destroyer (ha mashkhit) to come into your houses to smite you.” Exodus 12:23\n\nIn later texts, this Destroyer is identified as the Angel of YHWH:\n\n“So Yahweh sent a pestilence against Israel from the morning until the appointed time, a",
"path": "/jesus-christ-yhwhs-destroying-angel/",
"publishedAt": "2026-03-17T14:52:03.000Z",
"site": "https://answeringislam.blog",
"tags": [
"_Jude 1:4_",
"_kai_] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they _always_ had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see _ExSyn_ 270-78. See also [ _Titus 2:13_",
"_Titus 2:13_ and [ _2 Pet 1:1_",
"_Jude 1:5_",
"_theos Christos_ , “God Christ”**] for ᾿Ιησοῦς). As difficult as the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is, in light of [ _v. 4_",
"_v. 4_ and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one of the last books in the NT to be composed), **it is wholly appropriate. The NA 28 text now also reads Ιησοῦς**. For defense of this reading, see Philipp Bartholomä, “Did Jesus Save the People out of Egypt: A Re-examination of a Textual Problem in [ _Jude 5_",
"_v. 4_",
"**_Verse 5_**",
"** _v. 4_**",
"** _Jesus Christ: The God Who Saved & Punished During the Exodus_**",
"** _JUDE TESTIFIES THAT JESUS IS YHWH ALMIGHTY!_**"
],
"textContent": "According to the Hebrew Bible, God sent a Destroyer to slay the firstborn of Egypt:\n\n“And Yahweh will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and He will see the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, and Yahweh will pass over the doorway and will not allow **the destroyer (_ha mashkhit_)** to come into your houses to smite you.” Exodus 12:23\n\nIn later texts, this Destroyer is identified as the Angel of YHWH:\n\n“So Yahweh sent a pestilence against Israel from the morning until the appointed time, and 70,000 men of the people from Dan to Beersheba died.**** Then **the angel sent forth his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it** , and Yahweh relented of the calamity and said **to the angel who destroyed (_la malach ha mashkhit_) the people**, ‘It is enough! Now relax your hand!’ And the angel of Yahweh was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.**** Then David spoke to Yahweh **when he saw the angel who was striking down the people** , and said, ‘Behold, it is I who have sinned, and it is I who have done unrighteousness; but these sheep, what have they done? Please let Your hand be against me and my father’s house.’” 2 Samuel 24:15-17\n\n“So Gad came to David and said to him, ‘Thus says Yahweh, “Take for yourself either three years of famine, or three months to be swept away before your adversaries, while the sword of your enemies overtakes _you_ , **or else three days __of the sword of Yahweh__ , even pestilence in the land, _and the angel of Yahweh destroying_ throughout all the territory of Israel**.’ So now, see what word I should return to Him who sent me.”’**** Then David said to Gad, ‘I am in great distress. Let me now fall into the hand of Yahweh, for His compassions are exceedingly abundant. But do not let me fall into the hand of man.’\n\n“So Yahweh sent a pestilence against Israel; and 70,000 men of Israel fell.** And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy _it_ , Yahweh saw and relented concerning the calamity, and said to _the destroying angel (la malach ha mashkhit)__,_** ‘It is enough! Now relax your hand.’ **And the angel of Yahweh was standing by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite**. Then David lifted up his eyes **__and saw the angel of Yahweh standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem__**. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces. And David said to God, ‘Is it not I who commanded to number the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done a great evil; but these sheep, what have they done? O Yahweh my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father’s household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued.’…\n\n“** _Then the angel of Yahweh said to Gad to say to David_** , that David should go up and erect an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite. So David went up at the word of Gad, which he spoke in the name of Yahweh. Now Ornan turned back and saw the angel, and his four sons _who were_ with him hid themselves…\n\n“**Then Yahweh spoke to the angel,__and he returned his sword to its sheath__**. At that time, when David saw that Yahweh had answered him on the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, he sacrificed there. Now the tabernacle of Yahweh, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering _were_ in the high place at Gibeon at that time.**** But David could not go before it to inquire of God, for he was terrified **__by the sword of the angel of Yahweh__**.” 1 Chronicles 21:11-20, 27-30\n\nWhat makes this rather interesting is that this Destroying Angel is actually identified as the Word of God!\n\n“Formerly they had disbelieved everything as a result of their sorceries, but **at the destruction of their firstborn** they acknowledged this people to be the offspring of God. For when profound silence encompassed all things and the night was at midpoint in its swift course, **your all-powerful Word leapt from your royal throne in heaven** like a relentless warrior into the midst of a land doomed to destruction. **Carrying the sharp sword** of your inexorable decree, **and touching the heavens while standing on earth** , he filled the universe with death.” Wisdom 18:13-16 New Catholic Bible (NCB)\n\nIf this weren’t astonishing enough, the NT claims that this was the Lord Jesus Christ in his prehuman existence, since he is said to have been there leading Moses and the Israelites:\n\n“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and all ate the same spiritual food; **** and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking **from a spiritual rock which followed them,** ** _and the rock was Christ_**.**** Nevertheless, with most of them God was not well-pleased. For they were struck down in the wilderness… Nor let us **_put Christ to the test, as some of them did_** , and were destroyed by the serpents.**** Nor grumble, as some of them did, **and were destroyed by the destroyer**.” 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, 9-10\n\n“For certain men have secretly slipped in among you—men who long ago were marked out for the condemnation I am about to describe—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil and who deny **our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ**. Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts once for all) **_that _Jesus_ , having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, later _destroyed_ those who did not believe_**.” Jude 1:4-5\n\n _Jude 1:4_ **tn** **The terms “Master and Lord” both refer to the same person**. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί _kai_] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they _always_ had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. For more discussion see _ExSyn_ 270-78. See also _Titus 2:13_ and [ _2 Pet 1:1_\n\n _Jude 1:5_ **tc** The reading ᾿Ιησοῦς (_Iēsous_ , “Jesus”) is deemed too hard by several scholars, since it involves the notion of Jesus acting in the early history of the nation Israel (the NA27 has “the Lord” instead of “Jesus”). **However, not only does this reading enjoy the strongest support from a variety of early witnesses (e.g., A B 33 81 88 322 424 c 665 915 1241 (1735: “the Lord Jesus”) 1739 1881 2298 2344 vg co eth Or1739mg Cyr Hier Bede)**, but the plethora of variants demonstrate that scribes were uncomfortable with it, for they seemed to exchange κύριος (_kurios_ , “Lord”) or θεός (_theos_ , “God”) for ᾿Ιησοῦς (**though P 72 has the intriguing reading θεὸς Χριστός _theos Christos_ , “God Christ”**] for ᾿Ιησοῦς). As difficult as the reading ᾿Ιησοῦς is, in light of _v. 4_ and in light of the progress of revelation (Jude being one of the last books in the NT to be composed), **it is wholly appropriate. The NA 28 text now also reads Ιησοῦς**. For defense of this reading, see Philipp Bartholomä, “Did Jesus Save the People out of Egypt: A Re-examination of a Textual Problem in [ _Jude 5_, ” _NovT_ 50 (2008): 143-58.\n\n**sn** The construction _our Master and Lord, Jesus Christ_ in _v. 4_ follows Granville Sharp’s rule (see note on _Lord_). **_The construction strongly implies the deity of Christ_**. This is followed by a statement that _Jesus_ was involved in the salvation (and later judgment) of the Hebrews. **_He is thus to be identified with the Lord God, Yahweh._****_Verse 5_**** _, then, simply fleshes out what is implicit in_**** _v. 4_**. New English Translation (NET)\n\nJesus is also described as the Almighty Word of God who comes down from the Father’s throne to destroy the wicked by the sword of his mouth:\n\n“I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered **and sat down with my Father on his throne**.” Revelation 3:21\n\n“Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sits on it _is_ called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes _are_ a flame of fire, and on His head _are_ many diadems; having a name written _on Him_ which no one knows except Himself,**** and being clothed with a garment dipped in blood, **_His name is also called The Word of God_**. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white _and_ clean, were following Him on white horses.**_And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations_** , and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the wrath of the rage of God, the Almighty. And He has on His garment and on His thigh a name written, ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’\n\n“Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of strong men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great.’ Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war **with Him who sits on the horse and with His army**.\n\n“And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who did the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. **** And the rest were killed **_with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sits on the horse_** , and all the birds were filled with their flesh.” Revelation 19:11-21\n\nUnless stated otherwise, scriptural citations taken from the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB).\n\n**Further Reading**\n\n** _Jesus Christ: The God Who Saved & Punished During the Exodus_**\n\n** _JUDE TESTIFIES THAT JESUS IS YHWH ALMIGHTY!_**",
"title": "Jesus Christ: YHWH’s Destroying Angel",
"updatedAt": "2026-03-17T21:48:58.967Z"
}