Today, we are seeing in our society an angel craze. Both Christians and non-Christians alike are seeking to learn about and contact angels. A plethora of books have come out regarding this subject that have no scriptural foundation, but are right in line with the New Age movement and even the occult. Having a scripturally-based understanding of angels today is a necessity to defend against the ever-increasing worldly teachings on this subject.
Angels are spoken of all throughout both the Old and New Testaments, and through studying the Scriptures we can gain a fairly good understanding of these spiritual beings. However, as always in studying the Bible, in those areas where the Scriptures are silent on certain topics or aspects, we too should be silent and not try to interject supposition or speculation, “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.” (NKJ: Deuteronomy 29:29) As this pervious verse states, those things God reveals to us we are to know, but we are not to endeavor to explore into those things which are not revealed by God. Such activities can lead us into perilous waters. I say this for the reason that there are those who would attempt to describe angels and ascribe attributes to them in ways that have no scriptural foundation. When studying the Bible, we should always be true to the text and never wander outside of their defined boundaries. To do so is to risk developing a belief structure that may not only be non-scripturally based, but could even lead to beliefs that are contrary to God’s Word.
With that, let us now jump into our study on these marvelous, wonderful and mysterious spiritual beings known as angels. It is interesting to note that both the Old Testament Hebrew word and New Testament Greek word translated as “angel” have a literal meaning of messenger. All throughout the Scriptures, we can find angels being used as messengers of God to communicate to humans, and further on in our study we will delve more into this aspect of angels.
Expressions Used in the Scriptures to Describe Angels
As previously mentioned, throughout the Scriptures we can find the mention of angels. However, to properly study all the passages in the Bible referring to angels, we must also be aware of various other expressions in the Scriptures used to describe angels:
“the sons of the mighty” – Psalm 89:6
“sons of God” – Job 1:6; 2:1; 38:7
“elohim” (literally, ‘gods’) – Psalm 8:5
“holy ones” – Psalm 89:5
“morning stars” – Job 38:7
“princes” – Daniel 10:13
“Watcher” – Daniel 4:13, 17, 23
“host of Heaven” – I Kings 22:19, II Chronicles 18:18, Daniel 8:10
“angels of God” – Genesis 32:2
“Cherubim” – Genesis 3:24
“Seraphim” – Isaiah 6:2,6
“Archangel” – Jude 1:9
All of the above phrases, when used in the Bible, are references to angels. However, there are several phrases in the Bible that, while using the word “angel,” are actually not referring to angels, but to our Lord Jesus Christ. We will discuss this further in the next section.
Unique Reference to Jesus Christ in Old Testament as “The Angel of the Lord” and “The Angel of Jehovah”
The one exception to the use of the word “angel” that is not actually referencing angels is when the terms “the angel of the Lord” or “the angel of Jehovah” are used. These are actually references to appearances of Jesus Christ in the Old Testament or sometimes referred to as a theophany, or more specically, a Christophany.
That these terms are referring to a preincarnation of Jesus Christ can be seen as follows:
1) The angel of the Lord is referred to as deity, which is specifically forbidden of angels:
- “And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour. And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord…” (KJ: Judges 6:11-13)
- “When the Angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and his wife, then Manoah knew that He was the Angel of the LORD. And Manoah said to his wife, ‘We shall surely die, because we have seen God!’ (NKJ: Judges 13:21-22)
- “Now the Angel of the LORD found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. And He said, ‘Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?’
She said, ‘I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.’ The Angel of the LORD said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.’ Then the Angel of the LORD said to her, ‘I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude.’ And the Angel of the LORD said to her: ‘Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the LORD has heard your affliction. he shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man’s hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.’ Then she called the name of the LORD who spoke to her, You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees; for she said, ‘Have I also here seen Him who sees me’?” (Genesis 16:7-13)
- “Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’ Moreover He said, ‘I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.” (NKJ: Exodus 3:1-6) Here we have the Angel of the Lord being equated with God.
2) Scriptures show a distinction between God and the Angel of God:
- “Then the Angel of the LORD answered and said, ‘O LORD of hosts, how long will You not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which You were angry these seventy years?’ And the LORD answered the angel who talked to me, with good and comforting words.” (NKJ: Zechariah 1:12-3)
- “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. And the LORD said to Satan, ‘The LORD rebuke you, Satan!’” (NKJ: Zechariah 3:1-2)
- “And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a Man stood opposite him with His sword drawn in His hand. And Joshua went to Him and said to Him, ‘are You for us or for our adversaries?’ He said, ‘No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.’ And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped, and said to Him, ‘What does my Lord say to His servant?’ Then the Commander of the LORD’S army said to Joshua, ‘Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy.’ And Joshua did so.” (NKJ: Joshua 5:13-15) Note here how Joshua worships this angel, and the angel allows the worship. If this was just an angel, then the angel would have immediately told Joshua not to worship him, but to worship the Lord.
Angels are Created Beings
Angels were created by God at a specific point in time, and, therefore, they have not existed from eternity as God and our Lord Jesus Christ:
- “Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created.” (NKJ: Psalm 148:1-5)
- “For by him [Jesus Christ] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (NKJ: Colossians 1:16)
Angels were created by our Lord to serve Him and to do His will. One should never mistake our Lord, Jesus Christ, as an angelic being for He is God, and, thus, infinitely higher than the angels.
An interesting note regarding the angels is that, though not existing eternally, they were created prior to the creation of the earth and universe since the Scriptures tell us that they were there to witness their creation:
“’Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding….When the morning stars [angels] sang together, and all the sons of God [angels] shouted for joy?’” (NKJ: Job 38:4,7)
In this passage, we have God referring to the creation of the earth, and how the angels sang and shouted as they watched God during His creation of the earth.
Angels Possess All the Attributes of Personality: Intellect, Emotions, and Free Will
Angels, being created beings like ourselves, also possess the attributes of personality: intellect, emotions, and free will:
Emotions Emotions by angels can be seen in the book of Luke, “’In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.’” (NKJ: Luke 15:10) In this verse, we have angels exhibiting the emotion of “rejoicing.” The emotional capacity of angels can also be seen in their worship and praise of the Lord:
- “I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” (NKJ: Isaiah 6:1-3)
- “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’” (NKJ: Luke 2:13-14)
For an entity to be able to worship and praise something else, that being must possess the emotional capacity to recognize that which is holy, and to be emotionally drawn to worship and praise that holy entity. Angels also have desires, “To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.” (NKJ: I Peter 1:12)
Intellect Intellect by angels can be seen all throughout the Bible when angels converse with humans:
“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.’” (NKJ: Matthew 28:5-7)
However, angels are not omniscient, that is, they are not all-knowing as God. In the book of I Peter we read that, “To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven--things which angels desire to look into.” (NKJ: I Peter 1:12) Simply put, these angels were desiring to gain knowledge regarding salvation. An omniscient being does not require to gain knowledge since it already knows all, i.e. is omniscient.
Free Will Free will by angels is evidenced by the one-third of the angels following Satan and being cast out of heaven (Revelation 12:3-4)
It should also be noted that angels do not possess attributes of deity such as omnipotence (all powerful), omniscience (all knowing), or omnipresence (being able to be everywhere all at once). These are attributes that specifically, uniquely, and solely belong to God.
Based on the foregoing, we can ascertain that angels to possess personalities like ourselves. In particular, they willingly choose to serve God, as evidenced by the one-third of the angels that were cast out of heaven in Revelation 12:3-4).
Angels are Not to be Worshipped
In gaining a proper understanding of angels, one of the most important aspects to realize about these angelic beings is that we are never to worship them. We are given specific examples in the Scriptures of times when humans attempted to worship angels, and they were quickly rebuked for their actions:
- “Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels” (NKJ: Colossians 2:18)
- “At this I fell at his feet to worship him [an angel]. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’” (NKJ: Revelation 19:10)
- “I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, ‘Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brothers the prophets and of all who keep the words of this book. Worship God!’” (NKJ: Revelation 22:8-9)
We can see that when worship is directed at angels by humans, they are first rebuked, and then their worship is redirected to the Lord. Only our Lord God is worthy of worship, and we should never give our worship to any created thing, but only to Him. This also applies to our prayers in that they should always be made directly to our Lord, and never directed to or through some mediator such as angels or humans (either alive or dead). This is made clear to us in the Paul’s first letter to Timothy, “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus…” (NKJ: I Timothy 2:5)
How Many Angels are There?
From the Scriptures, we do not know the exact number of angels, but we can determine that their number is immense:
“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.” (NKJ: Revelation 5:11)
“A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.” (NKJ: Daniel 7:10)
This terminology is most probably not giving us an exact number, but is a picture of the immenseness of this host of angels.
What is the Purpose of Angels?
As we have previously discussed, angels are spiritual beings that were created by God. And as we read through the Scriptures, we can discover various purposes, or ministries, that are given to angels:
1) Ministering to the Saints
We read in the book of Hebrews, “Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” (NKJ: Hebrews 1:14) Angels are God’s heavenly servants given to the Saints, that is, Christians, to look after us, to protect us, and provide for some of our needs. Throughout the Scriptures, we can find examples of these ministering activities of angels for Christians:
- Carrying Messages From God
Angels are used by God as His messengers to us. We can see this evidenced all throughout the Scriptures. In the book of Genesis, two angels are sent to warn Lot that God was intending to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, and that he should take his family out of the city (Genesis 19). Then, in the book of acts we read that an angel, in a dream, spoke to a God-fearing centurion named Cornelius and instructed him to seek counsel from the apostle Peter (Acts 10).
- Providing Guidance and Instruction
Angels will at times guide our actions to serve God’s purpose. Philip was instructed by an angel to travel south along a certain road. The angel’s intent was to have Philip meet up with a man from Ethiopia to which Philip would ultimately share the gospel message and bring him to a saving knowledge of the Lord.
- Delivering from Danger
Angels are our protectors and will keep us from or deliver us through dangerous circumstances. In the book of Daniel, an angel protected Daniel in the lion’s den by shutting the mouths of the lions (Daniel 6:21). Then, in the book of Acts, the apostles were thrown into jail, but an angel came and released them (Acts 5:17-20). Later in that same book we read that the apostle Peter was also released from prison by an angel (Acts 12:1-10)
In the book of II Kings, we read of angels coming to protect servants of the Lord from harm, “When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. ‘Oh, my lord, what shall we do?’ the servant asked. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.’ And Elisha prayed, O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.’ Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (NKJ: II Kings 6:15-17) I share this passage as an introduction to the following story told by one of the greatest evangelists of all time, Billy Graham:
“The Reverend John G. Paton, a missionary in the New Hebrides Islands, tells a thrilling story involving the protective care of angels. Hostile natives surrounded his mission headquarters one night, intent on burning the Patons out and killing them. John Paton and his wife prayred all during the terror-filled night that God wold deliver them. When daylight came they were amazed to see the attackers unaccountably leave. They thanked God for delivering them. A year later, the chief of the tribe was converted to Jesus Christ, and Mr. 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 so that the natives were afraid to attack.” (Angels: God’s Secret Agents [N.Y.: Doubleday, 1975], p. 3)
I generally do not include stories such as this in these Bible studies, but thought that this one deserved an exception.
- Providing Strength and Encouragement
Angels minister to Christians by providing encouragement and giving strength when needed. In the book of I Kings, an angel encouraged Elijah in the wilderness (I Kings 19:1-8). And then in the book of Luke, the angel Gabriel brought comforting words to both Zacharias concerning his wife having a son (Luke 1:8-20), and to Mary of her son Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).
Today, angels may not be working in our lives in such a visual way as some of the examples noted above, but we still know that they are there, ministering to our needs for God’s Word tells us so.
2) Messengers to the Saints
One of the primary purposes of angles is as messengers, both to the saved and to the unsaved. Angelic messages can take on various forms:
Angels as Messengers of Prophecy Angels were used to bring prophetic messages to God’s people. We can see examples of this in the book of Zechariah, chapter 1, where an angel has a prophetic message regarding Jerusalem. Then, in the book of Revelation, we have an angel bring a prophetic message to the apostle John (Revelation 1:1).
Angels as Messianic Messengers Angels were used to bring messages regarding the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. In the Gospel of Luke, we have the angel Gabriel bringing word of Mary that she was with child, and that the child was the prophesied Messiah, “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.” (NKJ: Luke 1:26-31)
In the book of Daniel, we again have the angel Gabriel bringing a prophetic message regarding the future coming of the Messiah, “while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening offering. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you skill to understand. At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:----- ‘Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined.” (NKJ: Daniel 9:21-23,25-26)
Angels Bringing Messages of Warning In the book of Genesis, we have two angels coming to Lot to warn him of God’s impending wrath on Sodom and Gomorrah, and that he should immediately take his family out of the city. Then, in the book of Revelation (Revelation 14:6-11), we have three angels flying through the air, preaching the gospel, announcing the fall of Babylon, and warning the inhabitants of the earth, both saved and unsaved, not to take the mark of the beast or to worship him.
Angels Bringing Messages of Instruction Angels will at times guide our actions to serve God’s purpose. Philip was instructed by an angel to travel south along a certain road. The angel’s intent was to have Philip meet up with a man from Ethiopia to which Philip would ultimately share the gospel message and bring him to a saving knowledge of the Lord.
3) Perform worship of God in heaven
Angels in Scripture are seen in heaven providing continual worship of God before His throne:
- “And one cried to another [the seraphim] and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’” (NKJ: Isaiah 6:3)
- “The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’ Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne…” (NKJ: Revelation 4:8-9)
It would be a safe assumption that all angels praise and worship the Lord, but it would appear that some are given the position of residing before the throne of God and providing eternal worship to Him.
4) Battle Satan and his demons – Michael
The heavenly angels are in constant battle with Satan and his host of demons. Satan’s desire is to destroy us, but the heavenly host of angels are continually defending us against the devil’s attempted attacks:
- “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought…” (NKJ: Revelation 12:7)
- “Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil…” (NKJ: Jude 9)
- “Then he said to me, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia [a reference to Satan] withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia.” (NKJ: Daniel 10:12-13)
You have heard the term “I’ve got your back”, referring to someone watching out for you, well, the heavenly angels continually “have got our back.”
5) Executing Judgment
The heavenly angels are also used by God to execute His judgment on the world. This is very evident in the book of Revelation, chapters 7 through 18, where God uses the heavenly angels to execute His judgment and wrath on a sinful and rebellious world:
- “The first angel sounded: And hail and fire followed, mingled with blood, and they were thrown to the earth. And a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. Then the second angel sounded: And something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. And a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. Then the third angel sounded: And a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the water, because it was made bitter. Then the fourth angel sounded: And a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened. A third of the day did not shine, and likewise the night. And I looked, and I heard an angel flying through the midst of heaven, saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!” (NKJ: Revelation: 8:7-13)
The following are other references to angels being used by God to execute His judgment:
- “And the people kept shouting, ‘The voice of a god and not of a man!’ Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died.” (NKJ: Acts 12:22-23)
- “’So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.’” (NKJ: Matthew 13:49-50)
- “And of the angels He says: ‘Who makes His angels spirits and His ministers a flame of fire [“flame of fire” symbolic of judgment].’” (NKJ: Hebrews 1:7)
For us who are saved through our faith in Jesus Christ, angels are spiritual beings from which to find comfort. But, as we see from the Scriptures, those who have rejected Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will not find such comfort.
6) Gather all Christians at the time of Christ’s Return
Angels will be used by God, upon Christ’s Coming, to gather His people to Him, “And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” (NKJ: Matthew 24:31)
As can be seen, the purpose and ministry of angels in serving God’s plan is very broad.
How Do Angels Appear to Humans
Throughout the Scriptures, we have times where angels actually appear to humans. These appearances can take different forms. They can appear in extraordinary ways such as the angel that announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ at the tomb:
- “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” (NKJ: Matthew 28:2-4)
However, they also appear as humans, identical to us, as evidenced by the angels that met with Abraham on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18. Furthermore, in the book of Hebrews we are told, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (NKJ: Hebrews 13:2) The key phrase in this passage is “without knowing.” We are not to focus on if a stranger is an angel or not, but, as a practice show kindness to strangers. The point is that we will not know if that person we helped is an angel or not. This does give us an insight into one of the attributes of angels, that is, that they can take the form of humans.
Angels Towards Unbelievers
Angels operate in only one way when it comes to nonbelievers, and that is as bringers of judgment. In the Old Testament, angels were used to bring judgment upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), and one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in answer to the prayer of Hezekiah (II Kings 19:14-20,35). In the New Testament, an angel of the Lord smote a Roman ruler, Herod, for not giving proper glory to God (Acts 12:21-23). Finally, in the future, we have angels delivering God’s judgment on the world (Revelation 6 thru 18).
Guardian Angels
There is a belief held by some people that each of us have our own guardian angel(s) specifically assigned to us that are always watching us. There is no strong scriptural support for this, not to say that it could not be true. As we have discussed, one mission of angels is to minister to Christians (cf. Hebrews 1:14). However, the belief in guardian angels can be taken to an unbiblical extreme, in that focus is taken away from the Lord and redirected toward angels. One’s security can be improperly placed on angels, or, even worse, prayer can be directed to angels instead of the Lord. Our Lord created angels, and they act only according to His will and not our own. They are tools used by God to do His work in our lives. Whether we all have our own specific angel(s) assigned to us, or we are ministered to by many different angels at different times in our lives, it is not important. The important thing to note is that our Lord loves us and has given us these heavenly beings to bless us according to His will. Our strength, our security, and our joy should all be derived from our Lord, and nothing should ever take our eyes off of that biblical truth.
Conclusion
Angels are spiritual beings created by God to do His will. As a blessing to us, one of their primary functions is to minister to the needs of Christians (Hebrews 1:14). However, one must remember that angels act according to the will of God, and not according to our will. Therefore, we should never find ourselves in situations where we are looking to angels for our needs, especially during our times of prayer. We should never let angels become a distraction to us in that they receive any of our praise, worship, or adoration. Such things solely belong to our Lord.
We live in a day and age where, both in the Christian and non-Christian segments of society, people are extremely interested with the supernatural. With this interest has come a fascination in angels, and this fascination is generally not biblically based. It is either completely from a secular/New Age standpoint with no biblical basis, or it starts with biblical principles but then digresses into speculation and imagination. Such non-biblically based beliefs can at best be incorrect and misleading, but at worst can lead people into the realm of angel worship and the occult. Therefore, more than ever, it is extremely important to have a biblically-based understanding of angels. We must understand what the Bible says and does not say about angels to be able to defend against the false teachings being circulated in our society, and for that matter, throughout the world.
I pray that this Bible study will give the reader a general understanding of what our Bible tells us regarding angels, and that it will spur the reader on to embark on their own journey through the Bible to gain a more in-depth knowledge of these spiritual beings called angels.
God Bless
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