https://www.affinity.org.uk/foundations/issue-75/issue-75-who-led-the-israelites-out-of-egypt/
https://cdn.rts.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Midwinter-Who-Led-Israel-Jude-5.pdf
https://exegeticaltools.com/2017/11/20/yes-jesus-saved-destroyed-israelites/
Although the substitution of the name Yahweh with Adonai (ho kyrios, the Lord) was partly a consequence of misunderstanding among the Jews, it was still of no small significance for the spread of the Old Testament revelation that prepared for Christ. It could almost be considered providential that after the Babylonian captivity - when the people of Israel began to interact more frequently with various pagan peoples of the world, and when the synagogues emerging everywhere provided an increasing number of centers for the religion of Israel far beyond the borders of Palestine, around which even the salvation-thirsty pagans gathered and began to familiarize themselves with the revelation - God did not become known to the pagans under the mysterious name of Yahweh, understood only by the Jews, which, as the peculiar name of the God of Israel's covenant, would surely have given them the impression that this was just another national deity.
The name Yahweh -- as Gustaf Dalman correctly states (Studien zur biblischen Theologie: Der Gottesname Adonaj und seine Geschichte, Berlin, 1889, page 80) -- with which God revealed Himself to Israel and entered into a close relationship with Israel, distinguishing Himself from the gods of other nations, was only appropriate as long as divine revelation moved only within the confines of one nation. However, as soon as the Kingdom of God moved from "the people", "the nation", into the midst of "the peoples", "the nations", the proper name had to be dropped. The true God now had to appear before the peoples under a name that would express in a universally understandable word the relationship of the revealed God to the world, to all the peoples of the world. This name had to contain that what the false gods are only wrongly attributed, He and only He possesses in reality, i.e., divine dignity and power extending over all things, for which He justly demands obedience and submission from all nations of the world. For these indications, the word "Lord", the "Adonai", the "Kyrios" was undeniably the most suitable.
So, as Israel gave way to humanity becoming the subject of God's saving activity, Adonai replaced Yahweh as the head and executor of this action. The God of Israel thus became the Lord before whom the whole world must bow, for He is the Lord of the whole world. As Adonai, the God of Israel was proclaimed to the peoples of the world, and as the Lord of the world, He began His triumphant journey among the peoples, and under this name the peoples of the world have been worshiping Him and pleading to Him for centuries, and will continue to worship and plead to Him for the centuries to come until the end of times.
The substitution of the name Yahweh with Adonai is no less noteworthy when we consider that the Old Testament's LORD, Yahweh, who often appears as "the Angel of the LORD", "the Angel of God", and "the Angel of the Gods" respectively, and manifests Himself in various theophanies, is not the Father, but in fact the second person of the divinity, the Son, same in essence with the Father, the pre-Incarnate Word (Logos), but after His Incarnation, He was to appear in the New Testament as the Lord Jesus Christ, the Kyrios Jesus Christ.
The Hebrew word Malak in fact simply means the envoy, the messenger (missus, legatus), and later angel, messenger (angelus, nuntius) who is God's delegate, messenger to people. The Angel of the LORD, or the Angel of God in the quoted places does not represent a common, created angel, but an entity infinitely higher than the angels. This "Angel" of the LORD, or the "Angel" of God, although a separate person from the Father, is same in essence with God (Exodus 23:21, the Lord Himself says of him: "my name is in Him", that is, I appear in and through him); divine attributes and operations are attributed to him, and he is even directly called Yahweh, God; those who see him treat him with divine respect and homage, which he accepts from them, and he generally acts as God. This Angel of God, or delegate, messenger to people, as we will see, is none other than the Son, the as yet unincarnated divine Word, the Logos.
He has appeared to Hagar repeatedly in the desert (Gen. 16, 7, and later; 21, 17, and later), who clearly calls the "Angel of the Lord" "Yahweh" and "her God" (16,13); Abraham in Mamre, accompanied by two angels: promises the old Sarah a son, Abraham countless generations and announces the destruction of the Valley of Siddim (Gen. 18 and 19.1; The Angel of the Lord here is repeatedly called "Yahweh" (18, 13. 17, 19. 20. 22. 26, 33.) and His divine omnipotence is attributed to Him (18, 14); then he appears again when he wanted to sacrifice his son, Isaac (Gen. 22, 11 and later; see 22, 16 and later); he appeared to Jacob, fleeing from Esau, in a dream at Bethel, calling Himself Yahweh and renewing the promises made to Abraham and Isaac (Gen. 28); later in Mesopotamia, where he asks him to return to his homeland (Gen. 31:11 and later); then upon returning, in the form of an unknown man wrestling with him at the Jabok river (whom the prophet Hosea calls "the Angel of God" (12:5), who blesses Jacob and changes his name to "Israel" (wrestler with God) (Gen. 32:24 and later); Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3:2 and later), where he revealed His name, Yahweh, and stated that He is the God of the patriarchs etc; it was this "Angel of the Lord" who delivered the Israelites from Egypt, led and protected them in the wilderness, gave them the law on Mount Sinai; this is what hovered before the people in the form of a pillar of cloud (Ex. 14:19), which is why it is called "Yahweh's cloud" (Ex. 40:34); He also appeared to Balaam, who arrived on a donkey to curse the Israelites, whom he first invisibly stopped in his path and after being beaten by Balaam, the donkey miraculously spoke in a human voice, becomes visible to Balaam and tells him that he can only speak according to God's command (Num. 22, 22-35); later to the Israelites in Ophrah as the people's guardian angel (Judges 6); to Manoah's barren wife (the future mother of Samson) he promises a son and accepts Manoah's sacrifice (Judges 13). — Since the introduction of the kingdom, He appears less and less frequently, because after the establishment of the kingdom and the prophetic institution, God used his regular tools and substitutes to lead and teach his people; but the operation and mention of "the Angel of the Lord" did not cease. "The Angel of the Lord" was the one who, in the time of King Hezekiah, destroyed 185,000 people in one night in the Assyrian camp besieging Jerusalem in vain; the prophet Isaiah calls this as the liberator of the people "the Angel of the Lord's face" (see Isaiah 63:9), through whom God shows his face, that is, appears to people, therefore in the sense in which the New Testament also calls Christ the "image of the invisible God" (Col. 1:15), "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his being" (Heb. 1:3), that is: the manifest image of the unseen Father's divine being. The prophet Ezekiel also saw the Angel of the Lord in his rapture in the form of a man sitting on a royal throne (Ezek. 1:26 and later): the prophet Daniel, however, as the "son of man" on the clouds of heaven (Dan. 3,:49 and later). The "Angel of the Lord" also frequently appears in the visions of the prophet Zechariah (Zech. 3:1 and later; 12:1 and later); the prophet Malachi, however, prophesied to the Jews; "The Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, and the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire..." (Mal. 3:1). — When the institution of prophecy, having fulfilled its divine calling, ceased with Malachi, the Angel of the Lord completely withdrew, only to appear a few centuries later embodied on earth in the Lord Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament, the hidden Father is not strictly distinguished from the self-revealing, the one working for the benefit of people, the Son of God, both are called Yahweh (Adonai, Lord). The distinction only occurred in the New Testament, after God, the eternal Word, became human. And only the New Testament shed light on the fact that what the Old Testament often generally says about God or attributes to him, is actually meant to be about the Son of God, the Logos, who was the executor of what the Father God had ordered. The New Testament also reveals that both the Old and the New Testament were written by the same author; the Son of God; the Old Testament as the not yet incarnate Logos, the New Testament as the already incarnate Logos.
For the Father, according to the teaching of the Bible, has never appeared to people, no one has ever seen him; he dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man can see; his essence is invisible (1 John 18:6, 46; 1 John 4:12; Rom 1:20; Col 1:15; 1Tim. 1:17; 6, 16; Ex 33:20; Deut 4:12). Therefore, when the Old Testament speaks of the appearances of God (the theophanies), these cannot be attributed to the Father, for according to the promise we will only see him in the afterlife (Matthew 5:8; 1 John 3:2-3; Re 2:1, 3, 22:23.), - but to the not yet incarnate Son of God, the Logos. This can already be inferred from the wonderful visions of Ezekiel (1:26-28) and Daniel (7:13-14). The former saw a human figure sitting on a throne, surrounded by light; the latter saw the "son of man" on the clouds of heaven, which obviously refers to the future incarnation of the Logos, the God-man Jesus Christ. But this is clearly written about in the New Testament: John, Paul, Judas Thaddeus, and the Apostle Peter.
John the Evangelist says (12:41) that Isaiah saw (in divine revelation) the glory of Christ (the divine power and nature of the future Messiah and Savior, which manifested in Jesus's teachings and miracles before the Jews). Here John refers to the sublime vision obtained at the time of the prophet's calling, as described in Isa. 6:1—10. The Adonai (Lord, Isa. 6:1) seen in that vision, for whom the Targum uses the expression "the glory of Yahweh", is according to John none other than the revealing Son of God, the divine Word, (the Logos, John 1:1; 12:41), who as from the beginning was the mediator of all divine revelation. In this amazing vision, He appeared as the radiance of the Father's glory and the exact representation of His being (Heb. 1:2-3; John 17:24). Isaiah, however, does not explicitly describe Him as the Son of God, but speaks generally of the God of the Old Testament, referring to Him only as "the Lord" (YHWH), since the triune nature of God was not clearly revealed in the Old Testament.
In this vision, the same Adonai also spoke to Isaiah and commanded him (in verses 9 and 10) to prophesy to the Jewish people about their willful disbelief, which fully manifested in Jesus's time when the Jews largely remained unreceptive to his teachings, miracles, and actions. By abusing their free will, they chose not to believe, which led to their complete spiritual blindness and stubbornness.
Paul teaches that during the forty-year journey in the wilderness, Christ was the leader and benefactor of the Israelites, whose blessings followed them at every step. Moreover, the frequent grumblings and rebellions of the Israelites were directed against Christ, who was their guide and companion (1 Cor. 10:4,9). Paul also states that it was Christ who shook the earth at the giving of the law on Mount Sinai (Heb. 12:26).
According to Jude Thaddeus, Jesus (the Lord) delivered Israel from Egypt and destroyed the unbelievers (Jude 1:5). Some significant manuscripts (like the Alexandrian and Vatican codices, and the Vulgate) use 'Lord' instead of 'Jesus', and some textual critics, including Karl Lachmann (died 1851), consider this latter reading to be more authentic. By the way, the "kyrios" read in the Sinai manuscript also refers to Jesus.
Peter says that the prophets spoke through the Spirit of Christ, that is, the not yet incarnate Son of God, the Spirit of the Logos, who prophesied about His suffering and glorification through them (1 Peter 1:11). John, Paul, Jude Thaddeus, and Peter the Apostles used the names "Christ" and "Jesus" proleptically (anticipating), because the Eternal Logos (Word) only bore these names after incarnation as God-man. But they could anticipate, because the god who revealed himself in the Old Testament was the same Son of God who later appeared in Jesus Christ.
Following the significant Church Fathers and writers (like Origen, Chrysostom, Augustine, Cyril, Theodoret, Bede, Theophylact, etc.), interpreters of the scripture also relate the words in John 1:10: "He was in the world" to the guidance of humanity by the not yet incarnate Logos. See also Baruch 3:36-38.
The Council of Sirmium (AD 351) excommunicates those who would deny that it was with the Son of God (the Logos) that Jacob wrestled.
The concept of the Church is shown by the so-called improperiums, or reproaches (antiphons and responsories), which are said in the Good Friday liturgy under the veneration of the cross for the ingratitude and infidelity of the Jewish people, because 1. He led the Israelites out of Egypt; 2. He guided them for forty years in the desert and finally led them to the fertile land of Canaan; 3. He struck Egypt with plagues and its firstborn with death for them; 4. He opened the Red Sea before them so that they could cross; 5. He buried Pharaoh's army in its waves; 6. He walked before them in the Pillar of Cloud; 7. He fed them with manna in the desert; 8. He quenched their thirst with living water from the rock; 9. He defeated the kings of Canaan for them; 10. He gave them royal law; 11. He elevated them with His power. The same is shown by the second "O" antiphon of the liturgy of the week before Christmas (Dec. 18): "Oh Adonai (God of the Covenant), Leader of the house of Israel, who appeared to Moses in the flame of the burning bush and gave him the law on Mount Sinai, come and redeem us with your mighty arm!"
Based on the Church Fathers, the same is taught and irrefutably proven by modern Catholic theologians, to whom several orthodox Protestants also join.
It was most appropriate that the Son of God, according to God's eternal decree, was meant to be the executor of redemption, prepare the way for redemption, gradually prepare the entire Old Testament for what he wanted to accomplish after his incarnation. The whole relationship of the Old Testament to the New almost demanded that the activity of the Redeemer, who is the center of all history, has not remained unknown since it was first promised (Ex. 3:14), because what God did for the salvation of mankind, He did through His Son (John 1:3). However, due to the great tendency of the Jews to idolatry, this could initially only happen in theophanies (divine manifestations), not in incarnation. Thus, the various theophanies of the Son of God, especially his temporary appearances in seemingly human form, were not only types of the future incarnation of the divine Word but also preparations for his incarnation, divine-human appearance, making man more receptive to the idea of incarnation.
The "Lord" of the Old and New Testaments is therefore one and the same. He whom the nations recognized as the "Lord" at the end of the Old Testament, and whom the whole Old Testament prepared mankind for, in whom the fullness of divinity took bodily form, and through whom we must be saved (Acts 4:12): Jesus of Nazareth rightfully bears that majestic name, which Philo calls "the name above all names", because the God the Father made him "both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36), because he is "Lord of all" (Acts 10:36; cf. Nedarim 22b), the "King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (Rev. 19:16; cf. Deut. 10:17 and Ps. 136:3, Lord). He is "God over all, blessed forever" (Rom. 9:5)... "Jesus Christ is Lord" (Phil. 2:11).
