An angel of G-d came and sat under the elm tree. Gideon was threshing wheat there and the angel of G-d appeared to him.
Radak finds this very strange. Angels just don’t hang out under elm trees. Why didn’t he just approach Gideon? Why is he, as we would say today, just “chilling out” under the tree?
Radak says he isn’t just sitting. Angels don’t sit. They stand. ישב here means he was remaining there until Gideon would turn towards him. When Gideon didn’t turn toward him, the angel appeared to Gideon on his own.
The lesson, says Radak, is that G-d says, “I’m waiting here to save you. Just call out to Me and I’ll save you.” Had the angel come directly, we would think he hadn’t been ready until that point- maybe he’d been en route. By waiting there beforehand, he is showing he’s there for us, as soon as we call out.
There is a rule we learn from Rambam (in Moreh Nebuchim) that we believe in angels. It’s a fundamental of our religion, Rambam says. Our belief in angels is so strong that we have two of them on the Aaron Hakodesh in the Temple. He says they are there to show that we believe in angels. We aren’t even permitted to duplicate them. It would be Avodah Zara. We believe in angels as Hashem’s messengers.
When it says in our Haggadah that G-d himself took them out, this is an exception to the rule. Angels are usually G-d’s messengers.
On Friday nights angels walk us home from shul. After they hear our Vaychulu in shul they come to hear us say it at home. And if our homes look worthy, they bless us. G-d gives them the right to bless. We see many instances of angels protecting us in the Torah. Yaakov saw angels on his way home from Esav. He named the place Mahanayim- which means Two Camps, based on his camp and the camp of angels.
Elisha too, saw angels. (in Malachim/Kings) When his house was surrounded by enemies and his lad cried out in fear, Elisha calmed him and asked G-d to open his eyes. The lad then saw what Elisha was able to see, that there were thousands of fiery chariots of angels protecting them.
Rav Ades once said that it’s brought down that every child has two angels protecting them. Why two? One is not enough for children, who can get into so much trouble.
Just yesterday a friend of mine was in Prospect Park with his family. Right before their eyes, their four year old rode his bicycle right into lake! The mom, who was trained as a life guard, dashed in and pulled the child out. That’s what it looked like to their eyes. But she wasn’t alone. There were thousands of angels protecting them.
How do we get those angels? We’ll find out tomorrow Be’ezrat Hashem.
Have a good day.