4-10-2021 Angels Watching Over Us (Part 1)

                

Does Father actually have angels watching over us?  Do you believe in guardian angels? 

The bible tells us about two specific angels.  Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and is sent to speak to us (Luke 1:19), and Michael.  In Revelation, Michael fought with the dragon (Rev. 12:7-9) and against the ‘prince of the kingdom of Persia’ (a demonic spirit in this world, Dan. 10:8-14).

Angels minister to the heirs of salvation (us) (Heb. 1:13-14).

They are given charge over us to keep us in all our ways (Psalm 91:11).

They are our fellow servants in Christ Jesus and should not be worshipped (Rev. 18:1, 19:9-10).

Father can send legions to protect us as with Elisha and his servant (2 Kings 6:15-18).  Jesus told His disciples that Father would send twelve legions of angels to save Him, all He had to do was ask (Matt. 26:52:53).

God told Moses that He would send an angel before them (Israel) to guide and keep them as they travel as they journeyed to the place Father had prepared for them (Exod. 23:20-22).

Angels sit in the presence of God and worship Him (Rev. 4:1-11). 

They are God’s Messengers, as with Mary with the birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38).

Angels of God are for our protection (Psalm 91:1-16).   What they do for Jesus, they also do for us (Luke 10:18-20).

They minister God’s judgment (Rev. 9:12-21).  Remember Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:1-26)?

And they are God’s warriors (2 Kings 6:15-17).

Obviously there are more angels than the two named.  Father has also set angels to help us with the three areas or (spheres) of spiritual warfare to provide help and protection for His children.  Each sphere is responsible for a realm and has three sections, or choirs, of responsibility.

What we ‘know’ about angels is derived primarily from studies by the church scholars such as Origen (184 AD – 254 AD), and Catholic tradition.  Origen suggested that there are three choirs, (sub-groups) of angels set to each of the three spheres (primary groups) set to do battle on our behalf in the natural, the spiritual and for our heart. 

But just what are some of the things these angels do?  (reread the opening lines)

For a basic understanding of their responsibilities, we will look at the three spheres starting with what we understand the best – us, the natural man.  Then we’ll move through the second sphere (our spirit) finishing with the first sphere – our heart, our relationship with our Father.

The third sphere of angels deals with the natural man.   Three choirs, in this sphere, are responsible for what goes on in this natural world around us and these choirs are: Principalities, Archangels and Angels.

Principalities

The Greek word for “principality” is arche (746).  Strong’s defines them as chief of order, time place or rank, the beginning, the corner, magistrate, power or rule. 

We find references in Ephesians 1:20-23 where Jesus is given power over all things and is the head of the church.  And we see we are complete in Christ who is the head of all principality and power (Col. 2:9-10).  Oooh! You mean Jesus is above all the angels?

In the New Testament, Principalities refer to one type of spiritual beings which rule over specific areas pertaining to this earthly realm.  Remember, demons are fallen angels, so it is logical that they, too, would have specific areas of responsibility and of course demons would be quite hostile to God and human beings.  This is exampled in Daniel Chapter ten where the angel had to contend with the “Prince of Persia” (a demonic influence) to bring Daniel the answer to his prayer.  Yet, Christ rules over everything, giving us salvation through His conquering sin and death, shedding His blood, the cross, and giving the church access to this knowledge (Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 15:24;  Eph. 1:20-22; 3:10; 6:12; Col. 1:12-18; 2:10, 15).  Understanding this should help when we read that we don’t wrestle against other people, but against the spiritual forces that motivate them (Eph. 6:12)

Principalities, if you will, influence the “air” or “atmosphere” around us, here on earth.

Archangels

Jesus will call us home with the voice of an archangel (1 Thess. 4:16 and Michael is referred to as an archangel (in scripture, Jude 9).

The Greek word used here is archaggellos (743) which Strong’s describes as a chief angel.  Note that this word is derived from aggellos (32) which is one who brings tidings or a message or – could be, hold on to your hat, a ‘pastor’ (think about it).  John writes to the angel of the church of Ephesus, of Smyrna, of Pergamos, of Thyatria, of Sardis, of Philadelphia and of Laodicea (Rev. 2:1 – Rev. 3:22).  Why would John write to an angel?  Implication is that angels in this passage represent the pastors of those churches.  Pastors watch over their ‘sheep’ (congregation) by bringing messages and tidings from God.

Now, Gabriel is generally also considered an archangel.  In fact, the book of Tobit (apocrypha from Catholic Church bibles), Eastern Orthodox and some of the “lost” books of the bible suggest that there may be as many as seven archangels. Raphael, Suriel, Zadkiel, Sarathiel, and Aniel along with Michael and Gabriel.  The “El” at the end of each name means “of God” while the rest of their name refers to their ministry.  As an example, Raphael brings God’s healing (Jehova Rapha – Raphael).  I’m not going any further here, but some sources you may read may use some different names for the archangels or cite more or fewer than seven.  Just letting you know. (but I’m hanging in there with Origen citing seven)

Michael and Gabriel are the most familiar Archangels. The Archangels have a unique role as God's messenger to the people at critical times in history.   

The angel Gabriel first appeared in the Old Testament, in the prophesies of Daniel, where he announced the prophecy of 70 weeks (Dan .9:21-27). He appeared to Zechariah to announce the birth of St. John the Baptist (Luke 1:11). It was also Gabriel which proclaimed the Annunciation to Mary that she would be the mother of our Lord and Savior (Luke 1:26).  However, let’s not forget Michael fighting the dragon (Rev.12:7-9)?

An implication may be that archangels deal with major events for man.

Angels

Staying with the Greek the words for angel are aggellos (32) and age (33).  To the definition mentioned earlier, age means to “go to”.  So we may say that angels go to whomsoever God sends them.  They are sent ones. (sound like anything else?)

These angels are closest to the material world and human beings. It is believed that they deliver man’s prayers to God and God's answers and other messages back to humans.  You say “Hold on a minute!  We have the Holy Ghost!”  And aren’t we, the children of God in which the Holy Ghost lives?  Yes, but what about those who have never received Jesus? 

Tradition also says that they can access any and all other Angels at any time. They are the most caring and social to assist us, who ask for help.  Consider the two angels who visited Abraham and then Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:1-33, Gen. 19:1-22).  And the answer to Daniels prayer (Dan. 10:1-14).  Understand that, in Daniel, the “prince of Persia” was a spiritual entity (a demonic force) who opposed God.  Note also, in this passage, the angel with Daniel’s answer was not identified, but it was Gabriel who came and relieved this angel of his battle so he (the other angel) could deliver the prayer answer to Daniel.

An angel of the Lord reassured Joseph it was okay to take Mary as his wife (Matt. 1:20-21) and it was an angel of the Lord who freed Peter from prison (Acts 12:6-11).

So, this choir of angels might be called “God’s messengers” as they perform God’s will, interacting with us.

We have two more spheres to deal with and we’ll do that with the blog’s next entry in two weeks.

Amen