Upon what basis? Because "people in authority" say so?
I have learned from hard experience that such sources are far less reliable than commonly supposed, and I have proven as much.
the Bible seems to say that it IS the angel of the Lord. There are no doubt various views about this angel, as there is about everything in the Bible. However, many evangelical Christian theologians consider that whenever the term "angel of the Lord" occurs, as opposed to just an "angel", that it refers to the pre-incarnate Christ.
That is a stretch.
I won't argue the Hebrew with you, as it is outside of my area of expertise. But that's my opinion, also.
It doesn't have to be. Between the Interlinear Scriptural Analyzer and the BlueLetterBible Strong's search engine, you can learn a very great deal about the Scriptures that were previously only the province of experts.
Right. Still,I don’t thinkit was Satan. I’ll research what you say when I have some time.
In the meantime, well, the prophecy came true, didn’t it? Isn’t that one of the tests if the prophecy is from God?
there are other instances where the angel of the lord is referrred to as God.
Here is a listing I snatched off Wikipedia
The term angel of the Lord occurs 65 times in the Hebrew Bible (always singular), whereas the term angel of God occurs 12 times (2 of which are plural).
Genesis 16:7-14. The Angel of the Lord appears to a woman named Hagar. The Angel speaks as God in the first-person, and in verse 13 Hagar identifies the visitor as God.
Genesis 22:11-15. The Angel of the Lord appears to Abraham and, again, refers to God in the first-person.
Genesis 31:11-13. The Angel of God speaks to Jacob in a dream and tells him “I am the God of Bethel”.
Exodus 3:2-4. The Angel of the Lord appears to Moses in a flame in verse two, and God speaks to Moses from the flame in verse four.
Numbers 22:22-38. The Angel of the Lord meets the prophet Balaam on the road. In verse 38, Balaam identifies the Angel who spoke to him as God.
Judges 2:1-3. The Angel of the Lord appears to Israel and identifies Himself as God.
Judges 6:11-23. The Angel of the Lord appears to Gideon. In verse 14 the Angel refers to Himself as God; in verse 21 the Angel allows Gideon to sacrifice to Him as to God (”Then the angel of the Lord put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the Lord departed out of his sight.”), and in verse 22 Gideon fears for his life because he was in the presence of God.
Judges 13:3-22. The Angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife, and, in verse 22, is identified as God.
When a biblical character sees an angel identified as the angel of the Lord, this is often interpreted as a theophany.[2]