The Angel of the Lord and the Fire of Pentecost

The Ascension and the Promise of Power

In many Christian traditions the Ascension of the Lord is celebrated as a special day. This day commemorates the resurrected Christ returning to Heaven in front of His disciples. Shortly afterward, the fire of Pentecost would fall in the Upper Room as the Holy Spirit came upon the believers.  But centuries before Pentecost, another mysterious ascension took place in the book of Judges when the Angel of the Lord rose to Heaven in the flame of an altar. This is the connection between the Angel of the Lord and the fire of Pentecost

Before Christ returned to God, the Great Commission was announced. Jesus told us our mission—to tell people about Him, and where our mission field should be—the world. After this event the disciples would receive the Holy Spirit, like tongues as of fire, in the Upper Room. This would empower His people to carry out His mission.

Manoah and the Angel of the Lord

But now, I want to take you back, much further back, to the book of Judges. In Judges 13 you will find the story of the parents of Samson, a future judge of Israel, and how they were told that Samson should be raised. It was who told them and the manner of the telling that is so amazing.

The wife of a man named Manoah was visited by an Angel of the Lord who told her, that even though she was barren, she would have a child. She was told what to do during her pregnancy and that he was to be raised as a Nazarite. This was a person set apart for God who never cut his hair. This child, Samson, would begin delivering the Israelites from the Philistines.

When she told her husband about the visitation he prayed that God would again send the Man of God, as they called him, to instruct them. The Lord heard his prayer and the Angel returned. When Manoah asked him if he was the same one who spoke to his wife he said, "I am." Was the Angel giving a hint as to His identity when He answered, "I am"? Then he proceeded to reinforce what he had told Manoah's wife.

The God Who Ascended in the Flame

This is where things get exciting. The Angel of the Lord was not just a normal angel, nor was he even Michael or Gabriel. The mission of angels, created servants of God, was never to receive worship. This appearance is was what is known as a Christophany. A theophany is when God appeared to people in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis, Exodus, and Judges. Sometimes it was a Christophany, where Jesus appeared in physical form.

Manoah still didn't realize who this Man of God was, so he offered him food. The Angel declined but told him to offer a burnt offering to God instead. At this point, Manoah wanted to honor the man and asked him his name. This was the reply,

"And the Angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask My name, seeing it is wonderful?” Judges 13:18

Perhaps you remember the verse in Isaiah 9:6, which says in part, "and His name shall be called Wonderful ..."

Manoah obeyed and sacrificed a goat and a grain offering. The goat offering was associated with atonement for sin, while the grain offering represented thanksgiving and devotion to God. As the flames of the offering rose towards Heaven, "He did a wondrous thing" (Judges 13:19), while Manoah and his wife looked on.

The Angel of the Lord ascended into Heaven in the flame of the altar! Immediately they fell to the ground face down. Manoah exclaimed they would die because they had seen God. But his wife reassured him they would not die because their offering had been accepted and they had been told these wonderful things that would happen to them.

Just as had been predicted, their son Samson was born and the Spirit of the Lord fell on him. You may remember the story of his last act of destroying the temple of the Philistines with his bare hands. He judged Israel for twenty years and ultimately began the destruction of the Philistines.

From the Altar Flame to Pentecost

The story of Samson was only part of a much greater story God was revealing. Centuries later, Christ would return to earth to live among us in sinless perfection, be crucified, rise from the dead and then return to Heaven as His disciples watched. Indeed, His name is Wonderful!

But that is not all, just as He rose in the flames of the burnt offering, so fire fell on the disciples at Pentecost. Those flames in Judges represented God's consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24), revealing His power and desire to be with His people. They consumed what was offered on the altar, symbolically removing the sin of the people. The offering, going up in a blaze, was a visible sign that it had been accepted by God.

The flames of that burnt offering remind us of Pentecost. They displayed His power and they were visible proof that He would not just live among His people, but quite literally live in them. That same power is living in believers today. The fire of Pentecost is purifying. It represents a holy people, set apart to serve God.

The Angel of the Lord and the Fire of Pentecost

Can you see it? This man whom they did not know, this Angel of the Lord, is revealed to them as their holy God. They don't know about Jesus yet, but when we look back on this event we symbolically see a foreshadowing of Christ offered for our sins as our atonement in this story. He was the perfect sacrifice. When this happened Manoah and his wife had no doubt to whom they had been talking. They knew the events that were foretold would really happen.

The Holy Spirit and Our Calling Today

Do we recognize Christ and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives today? Do we desire to see the unholy things in us to be consumed by His holy fire? Today we have the Holy Spirit living in us and empowering us. It may be difficult to grasp that He speaks to us just like He did to Manoah and his wife. We may not have a visitation from God, but He speaks to our heart every day if we listen.

He has a job for us to do. All of us are called to be a Christian witness in a divided world. You have a calling from God Himself, no less important to obey than it was for his people in the book of Judges.

One day we will also rise to meet Him in the air having been purified by His perfect sin offering on the cross. If you don't know who this man Jesus is, I pray that you will see him as your holy God, just as Manoah did. My prayer is that we all are ready for that great and wonderful day when we go to live with Him forever. He is faithful and true. Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.