Foundations of Faith
ANGELS (I)
The past three issues of GROWING have dealt with Satan, the chief of the fallen angels. Let us now look at what the Bible says about angels in general.
1. Angels were created by God (Col. 1:16). According to the original creation, angels are higher than man (Psa. 8:5; Heb. 2:7). According to the new creation, the redeemed children of God will be given a place higher than the angels (1 Cor. 6:3).
2. Angels are spirit beings (Heb. 1:14), and so are basically invisible. On special occasions they become visible. Sometimes they take the bodily form of humans, as when two angels came to Lot in Sodom (Gen. 19:1). Or they may appear to man as heavenly beings, that is, with wings (Isa. 6:2; Ezek. 1:6), or surrounded with bright light and dressed in shining white robes (Dan. 10:6; Matt. 28:2,3; Luke 24:4; Rev. 10:1).
3. Angels possess greater intelligence (2 Sam. 14:20), greater speed of movement (Dan. 9:21), and greater power than man (Psa. 103:20; 2 Thess. 1:7; 2 Pet. 2:11). As an example of their power, one angel killed 185,000 Assyrian warriors in one night (Isa. 37:36). However, as created beings, angels do not possess God’s attributes of being omnipotent (Dan. 10:13), omniscient (Mark 13:32; 1 Pet. 1:12), omnipresent, eternal, or infinite.
4. Angels do not intermarry and reproduce themselves (Matt. 22:30). They apparently do not age, for the same angel who appeared to Daniel (Dan. 8:16) also appeared to Zacharias and to Mary (Luke 1:19,26), 600 years later. Angels do not die (Luke 20:36).
5. While “there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10), the angels do not know that extra-special joy of a sinner who has been saved by grace and redeemed by the precious blood of Christ. There is no evidence in the Bible that angels know God as “Abba, Father,” as the redeemed believers do.
6. Angels worship God around His throne (Isa. 6:2,3; Rev. 5:11,12), just as the redeemed children of God will do in a soon-coming day. Angels are not to be worshiped by man (Col. 2:18; Rev. 19:10), just as man ought not to be worshiped by other men (Acts 14:13-15).
7. There are large numbers of angels in existence:”10,000 times 10,000″ (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 5:11), or “an innumerable company” (Heb. 12:22).
1. Angels are messengers of God. Indeed, the Hebrew and Greek words translated “angel” in the Bible mean “messenger” or “agent.” It was probably the hand of an angel that wrote on the palace wall the mysterious words that pronounced the doom of King Belshazzar (Dan. 5:5,24-28). An angel gave to Daniel the prophecy of the 70 weeks (Dan. 9:20-27). Angels brought messages from the Lord to Hagar (Gen. 16:9-12), Abraham and Sarah (Gen. 18:10), Gideon (Judg. 6:11-16), Manoah and his wife (Judg. 13:3-5), Christ’s disciples (Acts 1:10-11), Philip (Acts 8:26), and Paul (Acts 27:23,24), among others. (See Assignment 9)
2. Angels are sent by God to protect, deliver, or strengthen God’s people (Psa. 34:7). “He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up in their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone” (Psa. 91:11,12). People of the Bible who received this kind of help from angels include Lot (Gen. 19:1-16), Elijah (1 Ki. 19:5), Elisha (2 Ki. 6:17), Jesus (Matt. 4:11; Luke 22:43), the apostles (Acts 5:18,19) and Peter (Acts 12:7-10).
3. Angels are employed by God to bring judgment upon sinful individuals and nations. We already mentioned the destruction of the Assyrian army by an angel of the Lord. Other instances include the slaying of 70,000 inhabitants of Jerusalem (1 Chron. 21:14-17), the fatal smiting of King Herod (Acts 12:23), and the future casting of the wicked “into the furnace of fire” (Matt. 13:50).
4. Finally, it is not “all work and no play” for the angels. They are interested spectators of humankind, and seem to derive joy and pleasure in seeing souls saved and believers walking in obedience to the Lord (Luke 15:10; 1 Cor. 4:9; 1 Tim. 5:21; 1 Pet. 1:12).
We shall continue this topic next month, considering especially the role that angels play in our lives today.
Running the Race
IN WHAT WAYS DOES SATAN TEMPT AND HARASS US? (IV)
We now conclude our study from Eph. 6:14-18 of ways in which Satan tempts and harasses the Christian.
5. “Take the helmet of salvation.” Our failure regarding other parts of the armor may result in doubts arising in our minds about whether we are saved. Also, it is common for a believer who is deeply depressed to become easy prey to Satan’s whispers that he/she no longer is saved or never was saved. To combat such efforts of Satan to make us doubt our salvation, we need to be armed with the “helmet of salvation” by keeping fresh in our minds and memories those scriptures that speak of the assurance of our salvation. (See Assignment 10)
6. “Taking … the sword of the Spirit, which is the word [or saying] of God.” This reminds us not to try to fight Satan with our own wisdom. Jesus answered each of Satan’s temptations by quoting an appropriate passage from the Bible (Matt. 4:4,7,10). As we learn our Bibles better, we will be better able to respond to Satan’s temptations and harassments. “The word of God” in Eph. 6:17 refers to that particular saying of God or scripture verse that defeats Satan’s attack.
7. “Praying always … for all saints.” Satan likes for me to think that I am the only person in the world who really counts, or that I am the only one who experiences certain troubles or problems. But God wants us to get out of ourselves and begin praying for other Christians besides ourselves. On the principle of Matt. 5:7 (“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy”), no doubt the more faithful you are in praying for other Christians, the more faithful other believers will be in praying for you.
Assignment 9: Look up the seven references just given where angels brought messages to people. Write down two or three words that describe the common theme of these messages.
Assignment 10: Give two Scripture references that provide you with assurance of your soul’s eternal salvation.