The Angel of Death

God’s Emissary of Judgement

In the “plague of the firstborn”, that was decreed upon the Egyptians and their gods, we see the final battle of this spiritual conflict brought to a tragic conclusion. In this plague, Yahweh acts directly through His emissary of Judgement, the angel of death against the Egyptian gods and the people of Egypt. We read in

Exodus 12:23 (KJV)

For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer (“mashkhit”) to come in unto your houses to smite you.

Notice that here in this verse, there is no explicit reference to the “Angel of Death” even though our minds instinctively bring him to mind. However, the Hebrew word “mashkhit” which is translated into English as “destroyer”, literally means “angel of slaughtering”, and this helps reveal the identity of the “destroyer”.

The term “mashkhit” is used in only three passages to describe divine judgment: as we’re seen above in Exodus 12:23; we find it again in

2 Samuel 24:16

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

And again in,

1 Chronicles 21:15

And God sent an angel unto Jerusalem to destroy it: and as he was destroying, the Lord beheld, and he repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed, It is enough, stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite.

These last two verses describe the same event, the judgment decreed for David’s sin carried that was out by the Angel of the Lord.

2 Samuel 24:16–17a reads:

And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

And David spake unto the Lord when he saw the angel that smote the people,

“Mashkhit”, “Angel of Slaughtering”, “The Angel of Death” is the Angel of the Lord. He is God’s specific Angel who has been given the role of "the emissary of God’s judgment".

The identification of “mashkhit” with the Angel of the LORD is also suggested by the prophet Zechariah at this end of time or eschatological Day of the LORD we read:

Zechariah 12:8–10

In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.

And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.

It’s obvious from this passage that the destroyer is the angel of the Lord, who seeks to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem and the people of God. The prophet Zechariah’s reference to those who suffer like those grieving over a firstborn is an allusion that points us back to the Egyptian plague of the firstborn that was enacted through the angel of the Lord.

That God has a “mashkhit” a “destroyer”, an “angel of slaughtering” should be of no surprise. Our God, the Almighty is the alpha and the omega, the beginning, and the end who has made preparations before time for all things to take place.

One final thought,

It's worth remembering that the "mashkhit" the destroyer, the Angel of Death, is in essence an Angel. An Angel who for God's people, we have nothing to fear, for at our end of days, he will guide us safely home.

But as for those who have rejected Jesus, that's a different story, for them he is their destroyer....

Have a wonderful day, and God bless.

Trev.