Monday, July 28, 2008
Acts 12:12 The Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me.
ANGELS AS GOD'S MINISTERS (1)
Both the Hebrew word (Old Testament) and the Greek word (New Testament) translated "angel" in our English Bibles mean "messenger." Sometimes God's messengers or angels have been human beings, like John the Baptist, who is called God's "messenger" or "angel" in Malachi 3:1 and Matthew 11:10. God says: "Behold, I send My messenger (angel), and he will prepare the way before Me."
Sometimes God's Messenger or Angel has been the Son of God Himself, as in Exodus 3, when "the Angel of the Lord" who appeared to Moses at the burning bush showed Himself to be the Lord God, "I AM WHO I AM." Malachi identifies the Messiah, "the Lord whom you seek," as "the Messenger of the covenant" (Malachi 3:1). Also the "Angel" of Revelation 20 would seem to be the Lord Jesus, who "laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years."
But most often the term "angel" in the Scriptures refers to those spirit beings whom God created to be His ministers or servants or agents in the carrying out of His will. "Bless the Lord, you His angels," says David in Psalm 103, "who excel in strength, who do His word, heeding the voice of His word. Bless the Lord, all you His hosts, you ministers of His, who do His pleasure."
The angels are holy creatures of God, certainly superior to human beings in holiness, wisdom, and strength. Yet they are not independent beings on a level equal with God, but created servants of the one true God, "sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14).
Most of us Christians living today have probably never seen angels, even in our dreams. Yet there are times when we have felt that God has protected us by means of His mighty angels. We believe that if God would open our eyes to see these spiritual beings, we would, like the prophet Elisha's servant in 2 Kings 6, see ourselves surrounded with "horses and chariots of fire." Indeed, if our eyes could see these protecting angels, we would confidently say with Elisha: "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them" (2 Kings 6:16).
