10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
What
We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Chapter Forty Two
Guardian Angels
Part I
INTRODUCTION: TEXT: Psalm 34:6-7
In view of their constant influence in our lives, it would be well for us to now something of the nature and work of God's holy angels. God's angels play an integral role in God's sustaining grace for His saints. Like the Sadduccees of old, some today deny the existence of angels. (Acts 23:8) God's word clearly establishes their existence and many of their activities.
I. LET US FIRST CONSIDER SOMETHING OF THE NATURE AND ABILITY OF GOD'S ANGELS.
A. The word angel is "mal'ak" (Mal-awk) in Hebrew and "angelos" in Greek.
1. W.E. Vine says "angelos" is a derivative of "angello" which means "to deliver a message."
2. Thus many Greek scholars define an angel as a messenger of God.
3. In most Bible cases the word "angellos" is translated "angel," although it is translated "messenger" in some places, such as Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:24,27; II Corinthians 12:7; James 2:25. As you can also see from these references, in some cases the word "angellos" can refer to a man. The context usually clarifies whether a man or a divine being is under consideration.
4. In this study we shall confine our analysis to angels in the sense of divine, heavenly beings.
B. Angels are created beings which are superior to men.
1. King David asked in Psalm 8:4-5, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visiteth him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor." Man is lower than the angels. Thus, it is easy to see why Jesus, the Son of Man, was said to be "a little lower than the angels," when He became flesh and dwelt among men. (Hebrews 2:6-7)
2. II Peter 2:11 speaks of "angels, which are greater in power and might" than men.
3. Psalm 103:20 speaks of the fact that the angels "excel in strength."
4. As other parts of this study will show, their miraculous power is unparalleled in mankind.
C. Angels are heavenly and belong directly to God and are engaged directly in His service.
1. Of the "holy angels," (Mark 8:38), which are to be distinguished from Satan and his fallen angels, (II Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Matthew 25:41), there is not one single case of the slightest insubordination of an angel to God. As is illustrated in I Chronicles 21:27, angels are in total obedience to God's command. Again Psalm 103:20 reads, "Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word."
2. God is the source of the angelic power, and without Him they have no power over anything. Yet, in carrying out God's directives, any angel becomes totally capable. Any angel can do anything God directs, because God gives him power to do it. A scripture which is particularly applicable to Jesus Christ, but which illustrates the power of God-directed angels, is Psalm 91:9-14, "Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high because he hath known my name." Note well that God-directed angels have power to protect from ANY evil. Once the command is issued of God, an angel will come down and bind old Satan and cast him bound into the bottomless pit. (Revelation 20:1-3) It is noteworthy that no angel has power to do that until God gives the order. Even Michael, the arch-angel of God, did not dare contend with Satan apart from the empowerment by God. (Jude 9)
3. The fact that angels belong directly to, and work directly for, God is seen in Luke 12:8, where they are called the "angels of God."
4. Naturally the home base for angels is heaven, from which they operate in their service of God. Matthew 24:36 speaks of "the angels of heaven." Mark 12:25 mentions that the angels are in heaven in a sense which indicates heaven to be their home. In Matthew 19:10 Jesus well establishes the heavenly dwelling of angels by saying "that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven."
D. Angels are spirits and do not have material bodies as men do.
1. Psalm 104:4 speaks of God "who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire." By comparing Hebrews 1:14 with Hebrews 1:13 you will find "all" angels called "ministering spirits." Thus, they do not have mortal flesh and blood bodies as do men.
2. Angels are in human form or can assume it whenever necessary. Perhaps angels can appear in other forms, although, we have no Bible indications that they can. Where they are seen in the Bible, they appear in human form, so much so that they have been mistaken for men. For example, when the two angels entered Sodom, (Genesis 19:1), the homosexuals of Sodom thought they were men and desired illicit relations with them. (Genesis 19:4-5) On another occasion, the Bible records the appearance of an angel to Gideon. He appeared exactly like a man. (Judges 6:11-20) The angel that appeared to Joshua in Joshua 5:13-15 was fist mistaken for another human. By comparing Luke 24:4 and Luke 24:23 you will find the two angels at the empty tomb of Jesus had every appearance of humans. There are numerous other cases. Angels so resemble humans that Hebrews 13:2 warns us to "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
3. The word "angel" ALWAYS appears in the masculine gender. There are no feminine or female angels. Neither are they neuter. Being all masculine, and created beings, there is no such thing as marriage and reproduction among angels. Jesus said that when the saints rise from the dead, they shall not marry, but will be "as the angels which are in heaven." (Mark 12:25) The inference is clear that angels don't marry, which refutes the interpretation that angels had sex with women in Genesis 6:2, thus siring a race of giants. Genesis 6:2 refers to the fact that saved men married unsaved women, a relationship that violates the will of God.
E. As to the number of angels that exists, the Bible does not specify. What it does tell us is that there are thousands upon thousands of them.
1. King David wrote, "The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels." (Psalm 68:17)
2. Hebrews 12:22 speaks of "An innumerable company of angels."
3. Once Elisha the prophet and his servant Gehazi were surrounded by a great host of Syrian soldiers, many on horses and in chariots. The servant thought it was capture and death for sure for him and Elisha. But, at the request of Elisha, God opened the eyes of the servant; and he saw the whole mountain full of heavenly angels protecting the prophet and his servant against the Syrians. Elisha said there were far more angels than there were enemies. The story is revealed in II Kings 6:13-18.
4. When Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane, Judas and the soldiers came to capture Him. When Simon Peter started to defend Him, Jesus said, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53) One legion is generally believed by bible authorities to be six thousand. Twelve legions would be seventy-two thousand, and Jesus said on that one mission He could have easily gotten more angels than that.
F. It is also noteworthy that angels are said to be very attractive and beautiful.
1. An angel appeared to the wife of Manoah in Judges 13:2-5. She later described him to Manoah in these words, "A man of God came unto me, and his countenance was like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible: but I asked him not whence he was neither told he me his name." (Judges 13:6) It is obvious that the angel was both powerful, fearsome in appearance and yet attractive and beautiful.
2. To show the beauty and attractiveness of an angel's appearance, Stephen, in his sermon of Acts 7, is described as having "the face of an angel." (Acts 6:15)
3. In addition to their great beauty and fierceness, angels are also very wise. That can be seen from II Samuel 14:20.
II. NOW, LET US PURSUE IN GREATER DETAIL THE IDEA THAT ANGELS SERVE AS THE DIRECT AGENTS OF GOD.
A. In numerous places, angels are seen as direct agents of God, carrying out specific assignments or missions for Him.
1. Perhaps one of the more notable examples of this truth is recorded in Numbers 22:22-35. Here Balaam, against the will of God, determined to go to Moab and prophesy against the people of God. God sent an angel to stop him. In invisible form the angel stood in Balaam's path with a drawn sword, ready to pierce him through. Only the intervention of God, through a dumb ass, prevented Balaam's death.
2. Another specific errand of God performed by an angel is recorded in II Samuel 24:1-16. David's pride moved him to number Israel without levying the blood tax. The thing kindled the anger of God, who specifically sent an angel who single-handedly slew 70,000 men of Israel with a plague. Immediately at the command of God the angel stopped his slaughter. (Note verse 16)
3. On another occasion, God sent an angel on a mission of comforting and sustaining His prophet Elijah. (I Kings 19:5-8)
4. Once Hezekiah, King of Judah, was about to fall with Jerusalem and Judah into the hands of the Assyrians. The situation looked impossible. (II Kings 18-19) God, however, sent an angel on a mission to deliver Hezekiah and Judah. On one single night, just as the Assyrians were poised to attack and destroy Jerusalem, that single angel appeared and smote to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. (II Kings 19:35) The Assyrian king, Sennacherib, was forced to return home to Nineveh, never to trouble Judah again. Listen to II Chronicles 32:21 tell about it, "And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword."
5. It appears from Luke 16:22 that one of the standing missions for angels is the transporting of the spirits of departed saints into the presence of God.
6. Time, space and knowledge would fail us to even mention all the missions which the angels have been carrying out for God down through the centuries of both time and eternity on a regular, daily basis.
7. It would seem accurate to say that in view of the daily workings of God through providence, (Romans 8:28 and Colossians 1:17), and the continual, sustaining grace of God, that angels are the chief tools of God in carrying out the events of providence and in sustaining His children.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"