190721 God’s Messengers

Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Angels have not always existed. Apparently, they were created by God sometime after he created the universe and before Adam and Eve sinned. Angels, again I say apparently, have the ability to make moral decisions. The Bible tells us many things about angels but, for my curiosity, the Bible does not tell us enough. We can rest on the idea that God shared with us all we need to know about angels. Over the next couple sermons — maybe more — we will examine these wonderful creatures.

Paul tells us that God created all things through Christ and for him. He then specifically adds the angelic world. I will explain more in just a moment. We do not know how many angels there are since we are told that the angels who did not rebel against God still represent a worshiping heavenly congregation, “numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.” (Revelation 5:11) This appears to be an uncountable number. These many billions of creatures have many names. Let’s look at some of those beginning with Psalm 89:5 & 7; Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones! … And our God is⁷ a God greatly to be feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all who are around him?

Hebrews 1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

Daniel 4:13 I saw in the visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, a watcher, a holy one, came down from heaven., And ¹⁷ The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men. & Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

In Psalm 89 we have “the assembly of the holy ones” and “the Council of the holy ones”.

Hebrews speaks of “the ministering spirits” that are sent to serve those who are to inherit salvation!

Daniel saw a vision in which a “watcher” who is holy came down. The watchers are sent to establish the fact that God moves over the kingdom of men.

Then, in Colossians, the heavenly beings are “thrones,” “dominions,” “principalities,” and “authorities”.

Among these various creatures, there is the appearance of rank and order! Let’s look at an example. After the death of Moses Joshua has taken command of the hosts of Israel. He is preparing to conquer the land promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The term “angel” is not used in this passage but this “man” is clearly a ruling angel. No doubt he had…

Rank. Let’s look at Joshua 5:13-15 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” ¹⁴ And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” ¹⁵ And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

When Joshua sees this mighty warrior he wants to immediately know whose side he will be on in the coming battles.

I am reminded of a story told about President Abraham Lincoln. The president was asked if God was on the side of the Union army. His response is a classic: “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.”

The angel responded to Joshua, “No; but I am the commander of the Army of the Lord. Indicating that the angel was there to carry out the Lord’s commands not the plans of man. I believe this angel “the commander the Lord’s army” was Michael the Archangel. There is an indication that Gabriel was also an archangel. Let’s read on and see.

In Revelation 12:7-8 we have the commander of the Lord’s army identified.

Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, ⁸ but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. Clearly, Michael is the commander of the Lord’s army. He led the angelic host that remained loyal to God and defeated the rebels in heaven. No, I don’t fully understand all of these things! But I do believe them. Anything found in God’s word is true. It may be hard to understand but when we need it, if we believe it, we will understand it!

Let’s move on to a New Testament example. Zachariah, an elderly priest was ministering in the temple. He was confronted by an angel of the Lord standing by the altar of incense. This would’ve been very disturbing because no one except the priest that was serving that day was allowed into the holy place of the temple. Zachariah was disturbed and afraid. The angel told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son. Zack’s first response was “How shall I know this?  I am an old man, my wife is advanced in years.” Notice, he does not call her an old woman! You men out there take warning. Find the answer in… Luke 1:19 And the angel answered him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.” Here, and in Daniel, we find this name “Gabriel” identified as one who delivers a message from God. It is often assumed that this angel will be the one who blows the trumpet to announce the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know for sure that Gabriel came twice in connection to the first coming of Christ. First, he told about the coming of John the Baptist. Second, he came to tell Mary about Jesus’ conception and birth. That announcement is found in Luke 1:26-27 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ²⁷ to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.

Gabriel came to Nazareth to inform Mary that she would bear a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. He did not simply tell her she would have a son and depart the scene. This angel informed her of all that was about to happen. Many things were not clear to her, however, her final response was, “I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

Gabriel had traveled to Jerusalem to speak to Zachariah several months later the same angel came to Nazareth to speak to Mary. We recognize that angels are not gods who can be everywhere present. They are limited in space and time.

Daniel gives us a similar picture with more detail. Daniel had been in prayer. He had fasted and spent his time seeking to know what the visions meant that he had been seeing. He spent 21 days in this prayer vigil. God dispatched an angel on the very first day to give him a report. When the angel appeared to Daniel and some other men only to frighten them away and cause him to fall on his face in deep sleep. The angel touched him and set him on his hands and knees. Then he said these words teaching us that…

Angels are limited in space and time. Let’s look at Daniel 10:12-14. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words. ¹³ The prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days, but Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I was left there with the kings of Persia, ¹⁴ and came to make you understand what is to happen to your people in the latter days. For the vision is for days yet to come.

When Gabriel was given a message for Zachariah and Elizabeth he had to travel to Jerusalem. When he had to deliver a message to Mary he had to travel to Nazareth. In Daniel’s account, the travel appears to have been in a spiritual dimension. An angel was sent to report to Daniel what the vision meant. When he started out a being who is identified as, “the prince of the kingdom of Persia” opposed him for three weeks.

In order to defeat this prince, Michael the commander of the Lord’s army was dispatched to clear the way for the message to come to Daniel. Even though the angels are spiritual beings they are limited time and space. No man can know how many angels were created in the beginning. We only know that the biblical account tells us…

They are beyond number. Let’s look at Hebrews 12:22-24. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³ and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

We have seen the term “myriads and myriads” is used to describe the host of the angels. Here, in Hebrews, we are told that we have come to the city of the living God and to innumerable angels! It should be very encouraging to us that they are beyond number because…

They protect people. Let’s look at a few passages that will help us. First, we see the words quoted by Satan in the temptations of Jesus originally written in Psalm 91:11-12. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. ¹² On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Clearly, Satan understood this to refer to the Messiah. So, if he is right, we might need other references. So let’s turn to Matt 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. Here Jesus tells us that children have angels that see the face of the Father. Now we don’t know if these angels are individually assigned in a man on man defense or if they are simply part of a large number playing zone.

In Acts 27:23-26 we find Paul in a ship in a storm. He is on his way to Rome with this passage being paid for by the Roman government. He must’ve been discouraged because God saw it necessary to send him words of encouragement. Paul spoke to all those who were with him to give them encouragement. He said, For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, ²⁴ and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ²⁵ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

Praise God! The evidence tells us that these spirit beings called angels are our protectors. I get the idea that the angels do not clearly understand us. We will explore more about the biblical teaching concerning angels next week.

All of the Angels must have been created by the end of the sixth day. I believe that is indicated in Genesis 2:1 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.” It is further strengthened by the words in the fourth commandment (the Sabbath commandment) found in Exodus 20:11 “in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them.” However, we only have hints in the Scripture. We must trust God to give us the information we need. Sometime after the sixth day of creation, a part of the Angels sinned and rebelled against God. After that Satan, who is their leader tempted Eve and then Adam into rebellion. Angels can influence our lives but only Jesus and provide salvation. Have you trusted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, I encourage you to do so today!

All scriptures quotes are from: The Holy Bible: English standard version. 2001. Wheaton, Ill, Standard Bible Society.