It never ceases to amaze me how people repeat ‘phrases’ they’ve heard, and then they go on to teach others the same ‘phrases’. The problem with most of these phrases is that they completely mislead people, and they lead to an erroneous understanding of God and His Word. One of these phrases is ‘the angel of death’ or ‘the death angel’, which implies God has an angel whose specific role is to go out and kill people.
It may come as a surprise to some that there is no such angel mentioned in the Scriptures, and the Scriptures nowhere describe any of God’s angels as an ‘angel of death’ or ‘the death angel.’ There are a few Bible references which people use to back up their claim that there is ‘an angel of death’; however, if these same people took the time to read the Scriptures properly and in their proper context, they would soon come to a different conclusion.
The main example given for proof of an ‘angel of death’ is found in Exodus when the final plague came upon Egypt, where the firstborn sons of the Egyptians would die. Please read the following carefully.
And when we go over to the next chapter, we see this promise coming to fruition.
Now, notice in both of these passages there is no mention of any angel, never mind any mention of an ‘angel of death’, and if you read them carefully, you can’t miss the fact that it’s God Himself who carries out this judgement. The text says, ‘I (God) will go out’, ‘The Lord Stuck down’.
Who is the destroyer? Notice, He, the LORD, will not permit THE DESTROYER to enter your houses and strike you down, Exodus 12:23. This certainly reads as though there are two distinct persons involved, the LORD and the destroyer.
Barnes, in his commentary, says the following.
‘This plague (death of the firstborn) is distinctly attributed here to the personal intervention of the Lord; but it is to be observed that although the Lord Himself passed through to smite the Egyptians, He employed the agency of the ‘destroyer.’
Davies, in his commentary, says the following.
‘The destroyer is the personified power of Yahweh Himself manifesting itself as destruction.’
The Hebrew word for destroyer is ‘shachath’, which means to decay, i.e. ruin. The Hebrew writer also makes reference to ‘the destroyer’ in Hebrews 11:28. He uses the Greek word ‘olothreuo’, which means to spoil, i.e. slay. The apostle Paul makes reference to ‘the destroying angel’ in 1 Corinthians 10:10. He uses the Greek word ‘olothreutes’, which means a ruiner.
The Jews believe that the destroyer is a divine agent or angel, and certain Rabbis believe that the destroyer could be both an angelic figure and an embodiment of divine judgment. Some Christian commentators believe the destroyer is the preincarnate Christ, while others suggest that the destroyer is the angel of death, and others believe the destroyer is the archangel Michael or Satan or one of his followers.
Encyclopaedia of the Bible says the following.
‘A superhuman being, used as an instrument of God’s wrath in the execution of His judgment. It is difficult to say whether this is a good angel used by God as an agent of destruction, or Satan or one of his minions. If a good angel, God could use it to bring both blessing and destruction. The term is used only twice, Exodus 12:23 / Hebrews 11:28, and 1 Corinthians 10:10. In the Exodus passage, it is used in connection with the tenth plague of Egypt, the destruction of the Egyptian firstborn. In 1 Corinthians Paul warned against grumbling, as some Israelites did in the wilderness and were destroyed by the Destroyer. It is thought by some that the Destroyer referred to by Paul was the fiery serpents God sent to bring death to the complaining Israelites.’
Some translations use the phrase ‘the angel of death’ instead of ‘the destroyer’, which isn’t at all what the Hebrew actually says. The main example given for proof of an ‘angel of death’ is found in Exodus when the final plague came upon Egypt, where the firstborn sons of the Egyptians would die, Exodus 11:4-5.
The phrase ‘angel of death’ is nowhere to be found within the Scriptures. And when we go over to the next chapter, we see this promise coming to fruition, Exodus 12:29. Notice in both of these passages, there is no mention of any angel, never mind any mention of an ‘angel of death’.
If you read Exodus 11:4-5 and Exodus 12:29 carefully, you can’t miss the fact that it’s God Himself who carries out this judgment. The text says, ‘I (God) will go out’, Exodus 11:4. Exodus 12:23 says that ‘the LORD will pass through’ and ‘the LORD will pass over.’ Exodus 12:29 says, ‘The LORD struck down.’ As it is written, God was the One who promised to judge, and He is the One who executed it.
Though we read that God used the destroyer to bring about His judgment, Exodus 12:23 / Hebrews 11:28, the destroyer clearly emanates from the LORD. The Scriptures don’t reveal to us who this is, and the destroyer is not named as the ‘angel of death’ or even mentioned as an angel.
Another example that people use to claim that the ‘angel of death’ exists is found in 2 Kings.
Again, we don’t need to be a Bible scholar to read that this text clearly tells us ‘the angel of the Lord’ carried out this act, but notice, there is no mention of the phrase, ‘angel of death’.
Who is this angel of the LORD? This is a Christophany, which suggests that this is a preincarnate appearance of Christ, Genesis 12:7. Remember the word ‘angel’ in Hebrew is ‘malak’, and it simply means messenger.
Haynes Jr, in his commentary, says the following.
‘A study of these passages reveals that the Angel of the Lord appeared in human form, Genesis 18:2 / Genesis 22:1-18 / Hebrews 13:2, and performed normal human functions, Genesis 32:24 / Numbers 22:23 / Numbers 22:31, yet he was an awe-inspiring figure, Genesis 32:30 / Judges 6:22 / Judges 13:22, exhibiting divine attributes and prerogatives including predicting the future, Genesis 16:10-12, forgiving sin, Exodus 23:21, and receiving worship, Exodus 3:5 / Judges 13:9-20.’
Another example that people use to claim that the ‘angel of death’ exists is found in 2 Samuel.
As with the other text, we see here that it is ‘the angel of the LORD’ which causes all these deaths, but nowhere is He ever called ‘the angel of death’.
I’ve heard too many sermons and sat in too many Bible classes where I hear this phrase being used over and over again but a careful reading of the Scriptures reveals to us that God has on a few occasions carried out His judgement on nations using angels but nowhere in the Scriptures are these angels or any specific angel referred to as ‘the angel of death’ or ‘the death angel’.
If we’re going to use ‘phrases’, let’s use Biblical phrases, not phrases which are completely misleading and unscriptural. Someone once said, ‘Let’s call Bible things by Bible names.’