“Again, we read: “And Manoah said unto the angel of Yahveh, What is thy name, that when thy saying comes to pass, we may do thee honor? And the angel of Yahveh said unto him, Why askest thou after my name, seeing it is secret?” The angel did not deny that he had a name, and this teaches us that those who are called angels are the souls of men who have lived in the body, and, of course, had a name among men; but when they left the sphere of evolution and became members of the order of Melchizedek, a new name was given to them, which is the name of their calling, in the Divine Order.
The fact that they are men who have lived on earth, and are our brethren, was shown by the angel who gave the wonderful revelation to John (Revelation 22:8-9), “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them that keep the sayings of this book. Worship God.”
This tells us that the angels of God are no more nor less than our brethren who are living or have lived upon the earth or some other world, but who have passed beyond the point where they are governed by the laws of generation, for there are many who have completed their fleshly existence and passed on as members of the Eternal Brotherhood; and the angel that appeared to Manoah and his wife was undoubtedly of that higher order and had passed on, for in Judges 13:20-21, we read:
“It came to pass, when the flame went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of Yahveh ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on their faces to the ground. But the angel of Yahveh did no more appear to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was an angel of Yahveh.” That this angel of Yahveh manifested to Manoah that he had dominion over the elements is suggested in the words, “And the angel did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.”
We read in Joshua 5:13-15: “And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he said, Nay, but as the captain of the host of Yahveh am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith Adonai unto his servant? And the captain of Yahveh’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.”
In 1 Samuel 2:27, we read: “And there came a man of Elohim unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith Yahveh, did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house.” He said that he “plainly appeared”, but he did not say definitely whether it was in the person of a man, or whether it was as a spirit messenger, or whether it was in the form of a word of Elohim. But the instances showing that men of Elohim appeared to the children of Israel, the covenant people, as guides, protectors, and controllers of the affairs of men are too numerous to mention.”
Hiram Butler
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 