Angels
Read time: 6.5 minutes
In the book of Hebrew 1:14 the inspired author says that angels are ministering spirits who are sent (by God) to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation. It also says that we should show hospitality to strangers since often times angels appear as strangers. We don’t hear much about angels these days however they have always played an important role in God’s plan of salvation and probably still do. Hopefully this little reflection will help us include angelic help in our requests to God.
I did a search on the word angel in the Bible and found 112 references starting in the book of Genesis (the first book) and ending in Revelation (the last book). Some examples from the Old Testament are as follows:
An angel came to Hagar’s assistance in the desert as she was fleeing from her mistress Sarai. The angel gave her instructions and told her a little of what was to come.
Two angels were sent to Sodom to save Lot and his family and to bring judgement against Sodom and Gomorrah.
An angel prevented Abraham from harming Isaac and told Abraham what the Lord would do as a result of Abraham’s faith.
Jacob saw the angels of God and declared them to be the army of the Lord.
Moses saw an angel of the Lord in the burning bush and then heard the Lord speaking to him.
An angel prevented Balaam from cursing God’s chosen people. At first Balaam’s donkey could see the angels and Balaam could not. Eventually the angel spoke to Balaam and gave him instructions as to what to do.
In a similar way an angel spoke to Gideon the farmer to tell him that he was to be the leader of the people in battle to defeat the Midianites. Gideon saw himself as the least in his clan and he saw his clan as the least in the community. The angel came to change his thinking and give him instructions.
In addition, the birth of Samson was announced to his mother Manoah by an angel. He told her that Sampson would deliver Israel from their enemies the Philistines. In time this is exactly what happened.
Isaiah was called by God by a vision in which he saw several angels who were serving in the heavenly temple of the Lord.
An angel gave Danial many visions of what was to happen in the future. An angel shut the lion’s mouths and saved Danial in the lion’s den as well as Danial’s three friends from the fire.
In the new testament an angel appears to Zechariah in the temple and announces the coming of John the Baptist.
Angels came to Mary and Joseph to announce the coming of the Lord Jesus and then warned Joseph to fee to Egypt. After Herod died an angel tells Joseph it is safe to leave Egypt and come home.
Angels minister to Jesus in the desert and also in the garden of Gethsemane. Angels are present in the empty tomb and instruct Mary as to what she should do when she discovers that his body is missing.
Jesus speaks of angels many times in his parables and teachings. He tells us that angels will bring the dead to heaven.
In the book of Acts, after Jesus ascended into heaven we see an angel rescues Peter from prison and instructs Peter what to do next.
An angel gives Philip instructions as to where to go next and then when Philip is finished his task the angel takes him supernaturally to another town.
An angel comes to Cornelius the faithful centurion and instructs him to send for Peter.
An angel came to Paul on the sinking ship to encourage him and instruct him what to say to the crew.
In the book of Revelation an angel was sent to John the apostle on the island of Patmos to tell John the things that were to take place. John had a vision in which he sees heaven itself with many angels standing around the throne of God. In the vision he sees many angels who are carrying out God’s plan on the earth, a plan which includes salvation of the faithful and judgement upon the enemies of God.
A few years back a parishioner told me a story about how two ladies appeared in the night at an accident scene and assisted him in looking after a badly injured person. When the police arrived the ladies were gone. He is convinced these ladies were angels. I have heard it said that since God gave Man dominion on the earth the angels are somewhat limited in what they can do for us, unless we give them permission to get involved by asking for help. Perhaps we should make a practice of asking God to send his angels to help in all the situations that we pray for.