#187 ANGELS 9-25-26
The word angel means “messenger.” Angels are personal beings created by God, intelligent beings who belong to a realm different from our own. The Bible presents two broad categories of personal beings created by God: angels and human beings. We are not angels, and angels do not become human beings. God created each according to His own purpose. Angels possess intelligence, will, and personality, yet they are ordinarily invisible to our eyes. They can move from one place to another, appear when God sends them, and disappear from human sight. Hebrews 1:14 asks, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Angels are repeatedly connected with the care and protection of God’s people. Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.” Jesus spoke of the special concern God has for little ones, saying, “Their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). We should be careful not to turn these passages into a system of ideas that the Bible itself does not establish, but there is something comforting here. Heaven is not indifferent to what happens on earth. God has created servants who minister according to His will, and His people are never outside His watchful care.
Angels also observe the activity of God’s people. Paul wrote that Christians are a spectacle “to angels and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9). 1 Corinthians 11:10 even mentions angels in connection with the worship and conduct of the church. There is a sense in which our lives are being lived before more eyes than we can see. We may think no one notices our faithfulness, our prayers, our sacrifices, or our obedience, but heaven sees. The unseen world is not an empty world. God’s creation is larger than what our physical eyes can presently perceive.
The Bible also shows angels ministering to the saints in remarkable circumstances. Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matthew 4:11), opened prison doors for the apostles (Acts 5:19), delivered Peter from prison (Acts 12:7–11), and appeared to people at critical moments throughout the biblical record. Hebrews 13:2 says, “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” That verse reminds us that God can work through heavenly messengers in ways we may never recognize.
Then there is the mysterious figure repeatedly called “the Angel of the LORD.” In the Old Testament, this figure appears in passages that deserve careful attention. The Angel of the LORD appeared to Hagar (Genesis 16:7–13), to Abraham (Genesis 22:11–18), to Moses in the burning bush (Exodus 3:2–6), and to Gideon (Judges 6:11–24).
What makes these appearances especially intriguing is that the Angel of the LORD sometimes speaks as God, speaks of God in the third person, and at other times is identified in the passage with the LORD Himself. In Exodus 3, “the Angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush,” yet the next verses say that “God called to him from the midst of the bush” (Exodus 3:2–4). Christians have historically understood some of these appearances as possible pre-incarnate appearances of Christ, while others understand the Angel as a unique heavenly messenger representing God. The text should be handled reverently rather than forced beyond what it says.
Angels are fascinating because they remind us that what is real is not limited to what is visible. We cannot see everything God has made. 2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us, “For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” Angels are not to be worshiped. When John fell before an angel, the angel immediately said, “See that you do not do that!…Worship God!” (Revelation 22:9). Angels point beyond themselves to the One who created them, commands them, and uses them for His purposes.
We may not see the angels around us. We may never know when God has sent them or how they have ministered according to His will. But we do know this: God sees us, God knows us, and God is at work in ways greater than our eyes can presently comprehend. The visible world is not the whole story. There is an unseen realm, and over both the seen and unseen worlds stands the sovereign Lord.
BDD
