SPECIAL TOPIC: DEATH ANGEL

In the Hebrew Bible all causality is attributed to God (i.e., no secondary causes, see SPECIAL TOPIC: ONE CAUSALITY).  This is a way to assert YHWH's sovereignty.  There is no angel of death, only angels that do God's bidding.  God does use angels for several reasons.

1. destroyer (Gen. 19:15; Exod. 12:23; 33:2; 2 Sam. 24:15-17; 2 Kgs. 19:35; 1 Chr. 21:12,15; also allusion in Job 33:22; Prov. 16:14; mentioned in the NT at 1 Cor. 10:10; Heb. 11:28)
2. protector and guide (Exod. 14:19; 23:20,22,23; Num. 20:16; Ps. 78:14)
3. punisher (Exod. 23:21; 32:34; Ps. 78:49; Isa. 63:10)
4. sign of YHWH's personal presence (cf. Gen. 16:7-14; 22:15; Exod. 3:2; 11:4; 12:12; 33:14-16; Deut. 4:37; Isa. 63:9; see SPECIAL TOPIC: The Angel of the Lord)

There is no "Grim Reaper"!  Death is in the hands of God.  It is surely the result of human disobedience (cf. Gen. 3:17; see SPECIAL TOPIC: THE FALL OF MANKIND).  Death was not God's will for Adam and Eve and their descendants.

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