10528. And I will send an angel before thee. That this signifies the Divine of the Lord from which is the church and its worship, is evident from the signification of "an angel," as being in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Human, and in the relative sense the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels, as also in the church with men (of which below); and from the signification of "sending before thee," as being to prepare. (That in the supreme sense "an angel" denotes the Lord as to the Divine Human, see n. 1925, 3039, 6280, 6831, 9303; that in the relative sense it denotes the Divine of the Lord in heaven with the angels, see n. 1925, 2821, 4085, 6831, 8192.) From this it follows that "an angel" also signifies the Divine of the Lord with the men who receive it; for men who are in the good of love and in the truths of faith in the Lord from the Lord, after death become angels; and those who do so are angels inwardly even while they live in the world. From this it is that in the Word John the Baptist is called an "angel," as in Luke:
This is he of whom it is written, Behold I send Mine angel before Thy face, who shall prepare Thy way before Thee (Luke 7:27).
That here "angel" denotes the Divine of the Lord with him is plain in Malachi:
Behold I send Mine angel, who shall prepare the way before Me; and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant, whom ye desire (Mal. 3:1).
That the Divine of the Lord is there meant by "angel" is because John the Baptist represented the Lord in respect to the Word, even as Elijah did, and the Word is Divine truth which is from the Lord. (That Elijah represented the Word may be seen in the preface to Genesis 18, and also in n. 2762, 5247; and that John the Baptist did so, in n. 9372.) And whereas in the supreme sense the Lord as to the Divine Human is the "Angel," therefore it is said, "the Lord shall come to His temple, even the Angel of the covenant;" "the temple" denotes His Divine Human, as is evident in John 2:18-22. The reason why He is called both "Lord" and "Angel," is that He is called "Lord" from Divine good, and "Angel" from Divine truth. As "Jehovah" in the Word denotes the Lord Himself, therefore it is said, "I send Mine Angel, who shall prepare the way before Me." This is said by Jehovah.