ANGELS
ANGELS
•
The Hebrew word for “angels” is “malachim”. It refers to a messenger. It usually refers to supernatural messengers but sometimes also refers to human messengers. The last book of the Old Testament Scriptures, for example, was written by Malachi. His name in Hebrew means “my messenger.” The word “malachim” occurs over 200 times in the Hebrew Bible.
•
The Greek word for “angels” is “angelos”. It also refers to a messenger. It also usually refers to a supernatural messenger but sometimes refers to human messengers. John the Baptist, for example was a “messenger” (Matthew 11:10). The word “angelos” occurs some 175 times in the New Testament Scriptures.
•
Supernatural angels are “spirits”. “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.” (Hebrews 1:14) Sometimes, however, angelic spirits take on human bodies. In Genesis 19:1, for example, “two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening”. In Genesis 19:10 – 12, however, these two angels are described as “two men”.
•
Since supernatural spirits sometimes appear as men, the Scriptures admonish us: “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)
•
The Scriptures teach that there are “many angels numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.” (Revelation 5:11)
ANGELS MINISTERED TO JESUS
•
After Jesus was baptized: “At once the Spirit sent him out into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended him.” (Mark 1:12-13)
•
In the Garden of Gethsemane when the sweat of Jesus was like drops of blood falling to the ground Jesus prayed: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” (Luke 22:42-43)
•
When Jesus was arrested Peter took a sword and struck the servant of the high priest cutting off his ear. Jesus told Peter: “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?” (Matthew 26:52-54) •
Remember! “We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15).
•
JESUS DID NOT HAVE AN ADVANTAGE OVER US!
•
SINCE JESUS HAD ANGELS TO HELP HIM, WE ALSO HAVE ANGELS TO HELP US1
ANGELS HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER
•
One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in a single night: “That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!” (2 Kings 19:35)
•
An angel brought the Hebrew people out of Egyptian bondage: “But when we cried out unto the Lord, he heard our cry and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt.” (Numbers 20:16)
•
An angel had the power to destroy Jerusalem (1 Chronicles 21:15). Note that when David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings: “He called on the Lord, and the Lord answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. Then the Lord spoke to the angel, and he put his sword back into its sheath.” (1 Chronicles 21:26-27)
•
Jesus said that angels will someday angels will gather out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and does evil and cast them into the fiery furnace (Matthew 13:41-42).
•
John received visions on the Island of Patmos of an angel burning up a third part of the earth, and another angel turning a third part of the sea into blood (Revelation 8:7-8)
•
Also angels have the power to kill a third part of all mankind (Revelation 9:15).
•
YES! ANGELS CERTAINLY HAVE TREMENDOUS POWER!
ANGELS ARE HELPERS OF THOSE WHO WILL INHERIT SALVATION
•
“Are not angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation”? (Hebrews 1:14)
•
An angel guided the servant of Abraham to find a wife for Isaac (Genesis 24:7; 40).
•
An angel helped Hagar when she was discouraged and confused (Genesis 16:7-15).
•
An angel fed Elijah when he was discouraged and hungry (1 Kings 19:5-6).
•
David prayed for angels to drive away his enemies (Psalm 35:4-9).
•
The Psalmist wrote: “For he commands his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalm 91:11-12)
•
The angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah telling him about the birth of his son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-25).
•
The angel Gabriel also appeared to the Virgin Mary telling her that she would give birth to Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).
•
An angel announced the birth of Jesus to some shepherds (Luke 2:8-15)
•
An angel guided Joseph and Mary:
•
The angel of the Lord told Joseph: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”)”. (Matthew 1:20-23)
•
An angel of the Lord told Joseph to flee to Egypt to keep Herod from killing the baby Jesus (Matthew 1:13).
•
After Herod died an angel of the Lord told Joseph that it was safe to return to the land of Israel (Matthew 1:19-20).
•
An angel rolled away the stone when Jesus was resurrected (Matthew 28:2-5).
•
When Mary looked into the tomb of Jesus she saw two angels sitting at the head and at the foot of where the body of Jesus had been lying” (John 20:10-12)
•
When the women came to the tomb “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7)
•
When the beggar Lazarus died angels carried him to be with Abraham (Luke 16:22).
•
An angel of the Lord opened the doors of a prison and liberated the apostles, instructing them to “Go, stand in the temple courts, he said, and tell the people the full message of this new life.” (Acts 5:20)
•
An angel guided Philip to meet the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26).
•
An angel delivered Peter from prison and death (Acts 12:6-11).
•
An angel killed wicked King Herod because he did not give glory to God (Acts 12:21-23). •
When the ship upon which Paul was a passenger was in danger of sinking Luke wrote by inspiration: “After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” (Acts 27:21-26)
•
Etc.
•
THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE MANY REFERENCES TO ANGELS IN THE BIBLE. JUST THINK HOW MANY MILLION TIMES ANGELS HAVE MINISTERED TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD THAT ARE NOT WRITTEN IN THE BIBLE!
ANGELS ARE PRESENT WHEN THE CHURCH ASSEMBLES
•
Jewish worship involved physical things that could be seen with human eyes and touched by human hands. Christian worship is different! “You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.” (Hebrews 12:18-21)
•
Christian worship involves spiritual realities that cannot be seen with human eyes or touched by human hands: “But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” (Hebrews 12:22-24)
•
Jesus said: “There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over who sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:15:10)
•
Paul wrote: “For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings.” (1 Corinthians 4:9)
•
Paul encouraged women to dress appropriately in church “because of the angels” (1 Corinthians 11:10)
•
Paul wrote to Timothy: “I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” (1 Timothy 5:21)
•
Even though angels are present in the assembly when we worship, they are not to be worshiped. Paul wrote: “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.” (Colossians 2:18-19)
•
“I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.” (Revelation 22:8-9) •
THESE ARE JUST A FEW OF THE WAYS THAT ANGELS ARE INVOLVED WITH THE CHURCH.
FALLEN ANGELS
•
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9)
•
“For God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.” (2 Peter 2:4)
•
“And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home – these has he kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day.” (Jude 6)
•
“Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:11-12)
•
Some angels even preach a false Gospel (Galatians 1:8).
•
“And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.” (2 Corinthians 11:14-15)
•
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
TESTIMONIES
Even though human testimonies are not inspired, they can still be used to overcome Satan: “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”. (Revelation 12:11)
- There are many testimonies about angels that are not written in the Bible.
•
On January 8, 1956 five missionaries died as martyrs in the jungles of Ecuador. They were Nate Saint, Jim Elliot, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, and Peter Fleming. The story of their martyrdom has been told in many books and even in the movie End of the Spear. It has been my privilege to travel to Ecuador with Steve Saint whose father was one of the martyrs. It seems that all of the natives experienced something that was supernatural. Dawa, one of the three women present, said she saw foreigners above the trees singing. Later when Dawa became a Christian Steve’s aunt Rachel played a record of choirs singing and Dawa confirmed that this was the kind of singing she heard. Mincaye and Kimo, two of the killers, confirmed that they heard the singing and saw what Dawa seems to describe as angels along the ridge above Palm Beach. Dyuwi, another of the killers verified hearing the strange music, though he describes what he saw more like lights, moving around and shining, a sky full of jungle beetles similar to fireflies with a light that is brighter and doesn’t blink. Apparently all the participants saw this bright multitude in the sky and felt they should be scared, because they knew it was something supernatural.”
If you are interested here are links to a couple of interviews I did with Steve Saint, and also with two of the natives from the jungles of Ecuador.
https://vimeopro.com/wotruth/venture-in-faith/video/130358302
https://vimeopro.com/wotruth/venture-in-faith/video/490993245
•
On May 22, 2011 an EF5 tornado struck Joplin, Missouri. It damaged 8,000 buildings, destroyed 4,000 homes, and killed 161 people, and injured 1,150 others. It did $2.8 billion in damage making it the costliest tornado in the history of the United States. This happened less than 15 miles from where I live. Several books have been written describing the ministry of angels during this tornado. Dr. Larry Brothers, for example, wrote And the Angels Came presenting the testimony of 55 victims of the storm who experienced the supernatural.
•
Billy Graham wrote Angels, God’s Secret Agents. Here is one of many testimonies in that book: “A celebrated Philadelphia neurologist had gone to bed after an exceptionally tiring day. Suddenly he was awakened by someone knocking on his door. Opening it he found a little girl, poorly dressed and deeply upset. She told him her mother was very sick and asked him if he would please come with her. It was a bitterly cold, snowy night, but though he was bone tired, the doctor dressed and followed the girl. As Reader’s Digest reports the story, he found the mother desperately ill with pneumonia. After arranging for medical care, he complimented the sick woman on the intelligence and persistence of her little daughter. The woman looked at him
strangely and then said, “My daughter died a month ago.” She added, “Her shoes and coat are in the clothes closet there.” Amazed and perplexed, the doctor went to the closet and opened the door. There hung the very coat worn by the little girl who had brought him to tend to her mother. It was warm and dry and could not possibly have been out in the wintry night.”
•
Another testimony from Graham’s book involved missionary John Paton: “When John Paton was a missionary in New Hebrides, hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night, intent on burning the Paton Family out and killing them. John and his wife prayed all during the terror-filled night that God would deliver them. When daylight came, they were amazed to see the attackers [inexplicably] had left. A year later, the chief of the tribe converted to Jesus Christ. Rev. Paton, remembering what had happened, asked the chief what had kept him and his men from burning down the house and killing them. The chief replied in surprise, “Who were all those men you had with you there?” The missionary answered, “There were no men there; just my wife and I.” The chief argued that they had seen many men standing guard — hundreds of big men in shining garments with drawn swords in their hands. They seemed to circle the mission station, and they were afraid to attack. Only then did John Paton realize that God had sent His angels to protect them. The chief agreed there was no other explanation.”
- These are just a few of the MANY testimonies about angels that are not written in the Bible!
ALL THE RESOURCES OF HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE AT OUR DISPOSAL
“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness” and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” (1 Corinthians 3:18-23)
“For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” (Psalms 91:11-12)
“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.” (Luke 16:22)
“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:10-11)
IF YOU GO TO HELL YOU WILL HAVE NOBODY TO BLAME BUT YOURSELF!