Angels
Angels are
creations by God, with the purpose of worshipping God and serving
mankind.
But about the angels God
said, "God makes his angels winds, and his servants flames of
fire."
(Heb 1:7 GNB)
What are the angels, then?
They are spirits who serve God and are sent by him to help those
who are to receive salvation. (Heb 1:14 GNB)
The LORD placed his throne in
heaven; he is king over all. Praise the LORD, you strong and mighty
angels, who obey his commands, who listen to what he says. Praise
the LORD, all you heavenly powers, you servants of his, who do his
will! Praise the LORD, all his creatures in all the places he
rules. Praise the LORD, my soul! Praise the LORD, my soul! (Psa
103:19-22 GNB)
There are
countless numbers of angels
No, you have approached Mount
Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and
countless angels in festal gathering, (Heb 12:22 NAB)
Again I looked, and I heard
angels, thousands and millions of them! They stood around the
throne, the four living creatures, and the elders, (Rev 5:11
GNB)
Some angels
are referred to by other names, such as seraphs,
cherubim or living creatures
In the year that King Uzziah
died I then saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up,
and His train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphs;
each one had six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two
he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to
another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is Jehovah of Hosts;
the whole earth full of His glory.
(Isa 6:1-3 MKJV)
And the first living
creature was like a lion, and the second living
creature like a calf, and the third living creature had
the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a
flying eagle. And each one of the four living creatures had
six wings about him, and within being full of eyes. And they
had no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the
Almighty, who was and is and is to come. And whenever the
living creatures gave glory and honor and thanks to Him who
sat on the throne, who lives forever and ever, (Rev 4:7-9 MKJV)
[see also Eze 1:4-14]
Above it were the
cherubim of glory overshadowing the place of expiation. (Heb
9:5 NAB)
Angels bring Messages from God
Messenger angels usually
relates to the believers in terms of spiritual warfare. They
interpret God's will, encourage, provide guidance, bring answers to
prayer, announce, warn, instruct and deliver messages of
judgment.
Then Manoah prayed to the
LORD, "Please, LORD, let the man of God that you sent come back to
us and tell us what we must do with the boy when he is born." God
did what Manoah asked, and his angel came back to the woman while
she was sitting in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her,
(Jdg 13:8-9 GNB)
May they be like straw blown
by the wind as the angel of the LORD pursues them! May their path
be dark and slippery while the angel of the LORD strikes them down!
(Psa 35:5-6 GNB)
But now I beg you, take
courage! Not one of you will lose your life; only the ship will be
lost. For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom
I worship came to me and said, 'Don't be afraid, Paul! You must
stand before the Emperor. And God in his goodness to you has spared
the lives of all those who are sailing with you.' (Act 27:22-24
GNB)
Angels bring assistance in time of
need
The LORD, the God of heaven,
brought me from the home of my father and from the land of my
relatives, and he solemnly promised me that he would give this land
to my descendants. He will send his angel before you, so that you
can get a wife there for my son. (Gen 24:7 GNB)
He answered, 'The LORD, whom
I have always obeyed, will send his angel with you and give you
success. You will get for my son a wife from my own people, from my
father's family.
(Gen 24:40 GNB)
Behold, I send an Angel
before you, to keep you in the way, and to bring you to the place
which I have prepared. (Exo 23:20 MKJV)
Angels fight against God's enemies
That night an angel of the
LORD went to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn
the next day there they lay, all dead! (2Ki 19:35 GNB)
The LORD sent an angel that
killed the soldiers and officers of the Assyrian army. So the
emperor went back to Assyria disgraced. One day when he was in the
temple of his god, some of his sons killed him with their swords.
(2Ch 32:21 GNB)
An angel of the LORD went to
the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 soldiers. At dawn the next day
there they lay, all dead! (Isa 37:36 GNB)
Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, who fought back
with his angels; (Rev 12:7 GNB)
For My Angel shall go before
you and bring you in to the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the
Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
And I will cut them off.
(Exo 23:23 MKJV)
Angels provide Protection
His angel guards those who
honor the LORD and rescues them from danger. (Psa 34:7
GNB)
God will put his angels in
charge of you to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up
with their hands to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.
You will trample down lions and snakes, fierce lions and poisonous
snakes. God says, "I will save those who love me and will protect
those who acknowledge me as LORD. (Psa 91:11-14 GNB)
Do you think that I cannot
now pray to My Father, and He shall presently
give Me more than twelve legions of angels? (Mat 26:53
MKJV)
[Note: A legion is
seven-thousand]
Angels bring Comfort and Strength
Elijah walked a whole day
into the wilderness. He stopped and sat down in the shade of a tree
and wished he would die. "It's too much, LORD," he prayed. "Take
away my life; I might as well be dead!" He lay down under the tree
and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said, "Wake up
and eat." He looked around and saw a loaf of bread and a jar of
water near his head. He ate and drank, and lay down again. The
LORD's angel returned and woke him up a second time, saying, "Get
up and eat, or the trip will be too much for you." Elijah got up,
ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to walk forty
days to Sinai, the holy mountain. (1Ki 19:4-8 GNB)
Then the Devil left Jesus;
and angels came and helped him. (Mat 4:11 GNB)
Then again one like a
man in form came and touched me, and he made me stronger and said,
O man greatly beloved, do not fear. Peace to you; be strong; yes,
be strong. And when he had spoken to me, I was made stronger, and
I said, Speak my lord, for you have made me stronger. (Dan
10:18-19 MKJV)
We are not to worship angels
Do not allow yourselves to be
condemned by anyone who claims to be superior because of special
visions and who insists on false humility and the worship of
angels. For no reason at all, such people are all puffed up by
their human way of thinking. (Col 2:18 GNB)
I, John, have heard and seen
all these things. And when I finished hearing and seeing them, I
fell down at the feet of the angel who had shown me these things,
and I was about to worship him. But he said to me, "Don't do it! I
am a servant together with you and with your brothers the prophets
and of all those who obey the words in this book. Worship God!"
(Rev 22:8-9 GNB)
Angels can
pose as humans
Remember to welcome strangers
in your homes. There were some who did that and welcomed angels
without knowing it. (Heb 13:2 GNB)
Fallen Angels
When Satan rebelled against God, a portion of the angels
participated in his rebellion. God cast them out of Heaven along
with Satan and are now referred to as demons.
Note: The demons confronted by Jesus knew their
final destiny was a place of eternal torment. Since this torment
was prepared for Satan and his angels, demons must be the fallen
angels.
Then war broke
out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon,
who fought back with his angels; but the dragon was defeated, and
he and his angels were not allowed to stay in heaven any longer.
The huge dragon was thrown out---that ancient serpent, named the
Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down
to earth, and all his angels with him. (Rev 12:7-9
GNB)
[See also
Dan 10:4-13, Isa 14:13-19 and Eze 28:13-19]
Satan
cannot create his own forces, because all things were created by
God. There are two groups of these fallen angels. One group is
actively opposing God and His people on earth. The other is
confined in chains:
Remember the
angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper
authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound
with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping
them for that great Day on which they will be condemned. (Jud 1:6
GNB)
God did not
spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell, where they
are kept chained in darkness, waiting for the Day of Judgment. (2Pe
2:4 GNB)
You must
reject all angels preaching other gospels
Many people have claimed that
angels gave them their new ways of serving God. Entire religious
movements have grown on such false revelations. Watch out! You are
not to listen to any person or angel or any other spiritual being
that wants to guide you in their ways that are contrary to God's
Word.
"But even if we or an angel
from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from
the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell!" (Gal 1:8
GNB)
"Well, no wonder! Even Satan
can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!" (2Co 11:14
GNB)
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