Did God change His mind?
How great must be the reader’s surprise, when only several verses later we read, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Moreover, many translations render both verses with the same words: “I will not go” (vs.3) and “I will go” (vs.14).How can it possibly be? “He is not a man that He should change his mind”, so how can we explain this seemingly contradictory and sudden change of His decision?
The Quandary is resolved
In Hebrew, we read: “My face will go with you”. Prior to this, the Lord promised to send His Angel: “I send an Angel before you … to bring you into the place” (Ex 23:20). Thus, we resolve the quandary: the Angel of His Face – Malakh Panav – went with Israel. We see this special Angel – mostly called Malach Adonai, מלאך יהוה– several times in the Hebrew Bible. What does the Scripture say about this Angel of the Lord?
One and only Malach Adonai
Remarkably, we don’t find “the angels of the Lord”: the expression Malach Adonai is always singular. Only one Being in Tanachis called Malach Adonai. He speaks in the name of God in the first person and stands before people in the form of a man. He stops Abraham in Genesis 22, He talks to Gideon, He appears before Manoah—and He goes with Israel. Enroll in our Discovering Hebrew Bible course to learn more about this special Angel.