GOD’S SPIRIT MESSENGERS
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Part 1
Angels
are spirit-messengers of God.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for
them who shall be heirs of salvation?
Heb 1:14 KJV
Angels
are sent to serve us and also they are sent to minister for us. They are spirit-messengers
sent out to help and care for us. The angels of Heaven are constantly active in
the service of God for the assistance of the saints.
They,
equally with man, are created beings;
Praise Him, all His
angels,
praise Him, all His
heavenly hosts.
Let them praise The
Name Of The Lord,
for He commanded and
they were created.
Ps 148:2, 5 NIV
For by Him all things
were created: things in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and
for Him.
Col 1:16-17 NIV
The
Bible discloses to us: the offices of the angels, the names assigned to angels,
the divisions of the angelic choirs, the records of angelic appearances, the
distinct differences between good and evil spirits, and many more.
These
glimpses of life beyond the veil are occasional. The angels of the
Bible generally appear in the role of God’s messengers to mankind. They
are His instruments by whom He communicates His will to men, and
in Jacob's vision they are depicted as ascending and descending the
ladder which stretches from earth to Heaven.
Angels
drew Lot out of Sodom; an angel announced to Gideon that he was
to save his people; an angel foretells the birth of Samson, and the archangel Gabriel
instructs Daniel.
These
are just a few of the numerous angelic encounters recorded in the Scriptures.
Though
Gabriel was not called an angel in either of these passages, but "the man Gabriel".
Gabriel
came to Daniel in a vision in the likeness of a man, as we read in Daniel 8:16
and later, in chapter 9, came to him in swift flight in the evening to announce
to him the significance of “the vision of seventy weeks” and the message of
“The Messiah” (The Anointed One) — and to bestow on him insight and understanding.
While I was speaking
and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my
request to The Lord my God for his holy hill— while I was still in prayer,
Gabriel, the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight
about the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me and said to me,
"Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. As soon as
you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you
are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:
"Seventy 'sevens' are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish
transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in
everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the
most holy.
"Know and understand this: From the
issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until the Anointed One,
the ruler, comes, there will be seven 'sevens,' and sixty-two 'sevens.' It will
be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble. After the
sixty-two 'sevens,' the Anointed One will be cut off and will have nothing. The
people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The
end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations
have been decreed. He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven.' In the
middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a
wing [of the temple] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation,
until the end that is decreed is poured out on him."
Dan 9:20-27 NIV
Such
appearances of angels generally last only so long as the delivery of their
message requires, but frequently their mission is prolonged and they are
represented as the constituted guardians of the nations at some particular
crisis, e.g. the case of Paul’s vision in Troas, of “the man of Macedonia” (Acts
16:9). “The man of Macedonia” is the guardian angel of that country.
But
in the case of Israel and the armies of Egypt during the Exodus, The LORD
Himself—“The Angel Of The LORD”, acted in a form of pillar of cloud and fire in
favor and defense of the children of Israel (Exodus 14:19).
Stephen's face is said
to have looked "like the face of an angel" as he stood before the
Sanhedrin (Acts 6:15).
In
“the parable of the lost sheep” Jesus said:
"See that you do
not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in
Heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.
Matthew 18:10 NIV
The
angels of God in Heaven rejoice when a sinner becomes born again (Luke 15:7).
Prophet
Ezekiel in Babylon had a marvelous vision of the cherubs (the four living
creatures) where they are described at great length (Ezekiel 1).
Angels of God are instructed to watch
over God’s children.