As each Christmas season rolls around, I have the fear that it will be duty instead of delight. Maybe this year the story won’t break through the scab of another year of living in this sad, hard world. What if the disappointments and cares have hardened my heart and dulled my eyes to the glory of the baby? Will I see him as he deserves to be seen? Or will I settle for just the beautiful adornments of the season? Will I come with willing eyes ready to see new dimensions to the old, old story? Or will I stumble through with clouded eyes and wonder why I’m unmoved by the ancient drama?

I have six weeks to either seek or hide. Six weeks from today is Christmas Eve. Will I have a full, grateful heart a little wiser and more awed at the Newborn than I am today?
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-11

It occurred to me if I want to seek the Baby, I should start looking before he was born in an animal shelter during the reign of a Roman emperor. If I started looking in the Old Writings long before his human birth, where would I find him? It turns out that I didn’t have far to look! His glow shone from the Torah, the Psalms, and the Prophets. The hardened scab over my heart began to crack. He has always cared about us.

What if he has cared about people since his daily walks with our father, Adam, in a beautiful garden? (Genesis 3:8 YHWH elohim made a sound as he walked, but God is spirit. This Person had a form.) What if he provided for the helpless since comforting a mistreated, pregnant runaway in the desert? (Genesis 16:7,11,13 the angel of the LORD was seen by Hagar) What if he sat down in the shade with our father of faith, Abraham, and told him the impossible, happy news of the arrival of a son in their old age? (Genesis 22:1-2,13-14 the LORD appeared as a male visitor)

What if he got Moses’ attention with a fiery, but unconsumed bush so he could begin the deliverance of his people? (Exodus 3:2-6 elohim, YHWH didn’t use a human form, but used physical fire as a representation of his being) What if he hovered over those former slaves, making their deliverance final in the dark hours of that desperate morning, holding back the enemy army while lighting the way of escape between walls of water? (Exodus 14:19-20 the supernatural representative of God visibly moved from leading in front to protection and provision in back) What if he kept his vigil over them for forty years, guiding, protecting, and providing? (Exodus 23:20-23 my Name is in him)

What if it was he who, in good humor, revealed himself to a donkey before a man? (Numbers 22:22-23,31-33 the LORD was seen standing in the middle of the road with his sword drawn.)

What if it was he who once again stood with a drawn sword and received Joshua’s worship before he laid out the plan for conquering Jericho? (Joshua 5:13-15: someone who looked like a man, who was the Commander of the army of YHWH, and who is holy)

Then, in the chaos caused by disobedience, he appeared repeatedly in the time of the Judges. The first time was not to comfort, but to confront his beloved people who had stopped obeying him and started doing the convenient thing. (Judges 2:1-5 We don’t know what form he took, but he moved from the place he had been to another place where the people were gathered.   They heard him and responded.) Then he is mentioned by Deborah and Barak as cursing those who had been able to help Israel, but chose not to. (Judges 5:23).

There is a rawly honest interchange between Gideon and the angel of the LORD. I love that we are allowed to be honest with God! I have to chuckle when I read Gideon’s, “Pardon me, my lord, but …”. Yep, I’ve felt that exact exasperation-You say that, but my experience is this. And the kind and complete reply is always, “I will be with you.” (Judges 6:11-24  Gideon talking with a man he didn’t immediately recognize as the angel of the LORD)

Then God had good, but seemingly impossible news for a childless woman of faith. Samson’s mother-to-be told her husband, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name.” Later, when her husband was bold enough to ask his name, he replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” Then he ascended in the flames of their sacrifice.(Judges 13:6-24 prophecy of Samson). It’s worth noting that both Gideon and Samson’s parents offered a sacrifice as David had.  As members of a disobedient society, they needed forgiveness and favor.

Once again, the angel of the LORD had a drawn sword in King David’s time. David saw him on a terrible day of judgment caused by David’s presumptuous census. David obeyed the message his prophet Gad brought him, and built an altar of sacrifice to the LORD so that the plague would be stopped. There is always room for forgiveness and mercy when the sinner repents. (1 Chronicles 21:18-30). David held great respect for the powerful angel of the LORD because he had seen his awful power to judge and his great power to protect. (Psalm 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him.”)

The last instance I found of the angel of the LORD was from the prophet Zechariah. This passage seems to be speaking of the end of time. The angel of the LORD who had repeatedly held a drawn sword was now pleading with the Lord Almighty for mercy on his people. And his request was granted. “Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy?’…“Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt.’” Zechariah 1:12,16  I can hear the echo of this plea centuries later when Jesus, from the cross, pleaded with his Father, “Forgive them.”

For further reading: You might enjoy reading the passages all in one place that i found in the Old Testament that record the appearances of Someone who is God, yet separate from the Father.

Hagar:  “The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert…The angel of the Lord also said to her:  “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery…She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me”, for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” Genesis 16:7,11,13  (Notice that Hagar identified the angel of the Lord as God and she saw him.)

Abraham:  Thirteen years later, Abraham was also allowed to see God appearing to him as a man.  Once again a child was foretold.
“The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground…Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? ”  Genesis 18:1-2, 13-14

Then, years later, the angel of the Lord would again speak to him. But this time he didn’t appear as a man. He simply called to him to save his promised son.
But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied. Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”  Genesis 22:11-12, 15-18. (Notice that the angel of the Lord said that Abraham had not withheld his only son from ‘me’.  Then the angel of the Lord made a promise as YHWH (Yahweh), the LORD.)

Moses:  “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush…’Do not come any closer,’ God said. ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.’ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob’ At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.”  Exodus 3:2, 5-6  (Here, again, the angel of the Lord identifies himself as God. He commissions Moses to deliver his people from Pharaoh.  After God empowered Moses to successfully lead his people out of Egyptian slavery, God once more commissioned him, this time to lead them to the promised land.  But he would not have to lead alone.)

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land…”. Exodus 23:20-23.  (“My name is in him. Listen to what he says and do all that I say…” seems to interchange God and the angel of the LORD.)

“Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me.  The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest….Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”Exodus 33:12,14,18-20. (Then Moses asked to see God’s glory, but God told him, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”  Yet God is said to have spoken with Moses face to face, seeing the form of the Lord.  The angel of the LORD is a separate person who Christians believe is Jesus, the Son of God the Father.)

Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When the two of them stepped forward, he said, “Listen to my words:“When there is a prophet among you, the Lord, reveal myself to them in visions,I speak to them in dreams.
But this is not true of my servant Moses;
he is faithful in all my house.
With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
The anger of the Lord burned against them, and he left them.  When the cloud lifted from above the tent, Miriam’s skin was leprous. Numbers 12:5-9. (This tells us that the cloud was the visible sign of the LORD’s presence.  It also states that the LORD stood at the entrance to the tent, apparently in a visible human form.)

Balaam:  “But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field. Balaam beat it to get it back on the road… Then the Lord opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with his sword drawn. So he bowed low and fell facedown.

The angel of the Lord asked him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I have come here to oppose you because your path is a reckless one before me. The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it had not turned away, I would certainly have killed you by now, but I would have spared it.” Numbers 22:22-23, 31-33

Joshua:  Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”  “Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”  The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.  Joshua 5:13-15

Israel:   The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up out of Egypt and led you into the land I swore to give to your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall not make a covenant with the people of this land, but you shall break down their altars.’ Yet you have disobeyed me. Why have you done this? And I have also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; they will become traps for you, and their gods will become snares to you.’”  When the angel of the Lord had spoken these things to all the Israelites, the people wept aloud, and they called that place Bokim. There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.”  Judges 2:1-5

Deborah and Barak:  ‘Curse Meroz,’ said the angel of the Lord.  ‘Curse its people bitterly, because they did not come to help the Lord, to help the Lord against the mighty.’  Judges 5:23

Gideon:  The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
“Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.”
Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.”  Judges 6:11-24

Prophecy of Samson: Then the woman went to her husband and told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name. But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant and have a son. Now then, drink no wine or other fermented drink and do not eat anything unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.”
Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”
“I am,” he said.
So Manoah asked him, “When your words are fulfilled, what is to be the rule that governs the boy’s life and work?”
The angel of the Lord answered, “Your wife must do all that I have told her. She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, nor drink any wine or other fermented drink nor eat anything unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her.”
Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay until we prepare a young goat for you.”
The angel of the Lord replied, “Even though you detain me, I will not eat any of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” (Manoah did not realize that it was the angel of the Lord.)
Then Manoah inquired of the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that we may honor you when your word comes true?”
He replied, “Why do you ask my name? It is beyond understanding.” Then Manoah took a young goat, together with the grain offering, and sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. And the Lord did an amazing thing while Manoah and his wife watched: As the flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame. Seeing this, Manoah and his wife fell with their faces to the ground. When the angel of the Lord did not show himself again to Manoah and his wife, Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.

“We are doomed to die!” he said to his wife. “We have seen God!”
But his wife answered, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and grain offering from our hands, nor shown us all these things or now told us this.”  Judges 13:6-23

King David:  Then the angel of the Lord ordered Gad to tell David to go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite. So David went up in obedience to the word that Gad had spoken in the name of the Lord.
While Araunah was threshing wheat, he turned and saw the angel; his four sons who were with him hid themselves. Then David approached, and when Araunah looked and saw him, he left the threshing floor and bowed down before David with his face to the ground.
David said to him, “Let me have the site of your threshing floor so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped. Sell it to me at the full price.”
Araunah said to David, “Take it! Let my lord the king do whatever pleases him. Look, I will give the oxen for the burnt offerings, the threshing sledges for the wood, and the wheat for the grain offering. I will give all this.”
But King David replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying the full price. I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.”
So David paid Araunah six hundred shekels of gold for the site. David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering.

Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath. At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, he offered sacrifices there. The tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering were at that time on the high place at Gibeon. But David could not go before it to inquire of God, because he was afraid of the sword of the angel of the Lord.”1 Chronicles 21:18-30

Last times: “And they reported to the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, “We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”  Then the angel of the Lord said, “Lord Almighty, how long will you withhold mercy from Jerusalem and from the towns of Judah, which you have been angry with these seventy years?” So the Lord spoke kind and comforting words to the angel who talked with me.Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion, and I am very angry with the nations that feel secure. I was only a little angry, but they went too far with the punishment.’Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the Lord Almighty.
“Proclaim further: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘My towns will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and choose Jerusalem.’”  Zechariah 1:11-17