February 2020 - LPNI

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February 2020

A Study on God’s Angels

Many people today are interested in angels. Many people believe in angels. So, there are TV shows with angels in them, movies about angels, and books and magazines about angels. But to find out the truth about angels, you need to look in the Bible. What God’s Word says about angels is often quite different to what non-Christians make up about angels

Try this angel-quiz out! Answer each one as true or false

a. Jesus made the angels T/F (Colossians 1:16)

b. An angel killed King Herod T/F (Acts 12:23)

c. Angels always have wings T/F (Daniel 10:5-6)

d. Angels have families T/F (Mark 12:25)

e. Angels sing T/F (Revelation 5:11)

f. Angels know everything T/F (Matthew 24:36)

g. Angels can get old and die T/F (Luke 20:36)

h. Some angels are evil T/F (2 Peter 2:4)

i. We should worship angels T/F (Revelation 19:9-10)

j. Angels worship Jesus T/F (Hebrews 1:6; Philippians 2:9-11)

Let’s now see what the Word of God has to say about angels.

Angels are messengers sent from God. “Angel” simply means “messenger”. In the Bible, God often sends “an angel of the LORD” to speak God’s message to humans. See Revelation 1:1; Matthew 1:20-21; Luke 1:19.
The angel is a representative of God - they don’t speak their own message. What they say is exactly what God says. See Judges 6:11-24; Luke 1:19
Angels live in God’s presence and see him face to face. See Matthew 18:10-11; Revelation 5:11-12.
Angels are not divine, however. They are not God, like Jesus is. They are created beings (Psalm 148:2,5), although we don’t know exactly when God created them. The angels are under God’s power (1 Peter 3:22; Philippians 2:9-10). Angels are nothing else than God’s servants. Hebrews 1:7
.Because they are not divine they are not to be worshipped. See Revelation 19:9-10.
Angels are powerful. They often appear as God’s army, or heavenly soldiers. See Joshua 5:13-15; Matthew 26:53; 2 Kings 19:35!
Last of all, it’s worth mentioning that some angels are evil (the demons). At some time in the past, the devil and a number of other angels rebelled against God. They have been kicked out of heaven, and are waiting to receive God’s punishment. See 2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6; Matthew 25:41.

However, the important thing to know is what angels do and what their job is.

Angels are completely dedicated to carrying out the will of God. As we saw above, they are his servants. See Psalm 103:20-21; Revelation 7-10, 15-16.
In the Bible we read that angels carried out God’s judgement as a result of sin. See Genesis 19; 1 Chronicles 21:9-16; Revelation 16. They will also appear with Jesus when he comes to judge the living and the dead (Matthew 13:39; 2 Thessalonians 1:7).
At other times angels rescued God’s people from their enemies. See Isaiah 37:35-37.
Many times they strengthen and help God’s people (Daniel 6:21-22; 1 Kings 19:1-9; also see Luke 22:43).
However, what angels do best is worship God and his Son, Jesus Christ. The angels continually praise God, and invite us to do the same. Rev. 5:11-12; 19:10; Heb. 1:6.

In a nutshell, the angels help us in our Christian faith, as God directs them. They watch over us, protect us from the evil one, and guide us along the right path. They point us to Christ. When we worship God, they are right there with us (think of a part of our liturgy). And once we are in heaven, then we will perfectly worship God “together with angels and archangels and all the hosts of heaven”. Thank God for his holy angels!

Rev Darryl Mattner

Chaplain, Lutheran Aged Care

Albury, New South Wales