THE ANGELS

WHAT DO ANGELS DO TODAY?

 © Carlos Padilla, July 2014

The film City of Angels is one of the stories that could come closest to a Biblical reality of how angels live today, and not only today, but always, from the beginning of God’s Creation, and the relation they have with man. The doctrinal study of angels is known as Angelology, and it is one of the ten main categories; or at least should be. Our relationship with them is mainly unidirectional –they communicate if God sends them (unless in the case of fallen angels)– as well as they influence the life of man in many ways, in big battles for us, even if we do not realize; at least the majority does not perceive them. The question is not whether the angles exist, which the Bible affirms, and we know from the great amount of events in which they participate in a relevant way in history, but, what do they do today, and how is our correct relationship with them?

Another matter is, that, although the angels were all created holy in the beginning, Psalm 148:2 and all worship Him, many turned against God, falling from their state of grace and converting into demons enemies of God and of man, Judah 6 whom will suffer eternal punishment. The Bible shows us clearly that we have enemies in this world, from which Jesus Christ teaches us to defend ourselves and guards us in the power of the Holy Spirit in us, and through his holy angels, Ephesians 6. Also, in the Bible, we find the guide and the instructions about the way to differentiate those who are in God’s side and in ours, if we walk on God’s way and in Christ’s, through the Spirit.

THE CREATION OF ANGELS. HOW MANY ANGELS ARE THERE? TYPES OF ANGELS.

Angles are persons –not in the concept of person that we see every day– but they are personalities, they have will, they think and feel like us, even though they are not visible for us. Many think that angels are the people before us that do good, or are of God. Your are an angel! is a common expression. Yes it’s true that many times we act on behalf of God towards others, but a man is not the same as an angel, in this world. In the one to come we shall be the ones to judge them.

Revelation tells of millions of millions of angels, myriads. Someone wrote that there must be as many angles as people in all history of humanity. God created the angels as spiritual creatures, a bit superior to man while he is on Earth and have made them messengers, ambassadors, glorifiers of God, defenders of the saints, sent of God to fulfil the missions commanded by Him.

 In Genesis 1:26 we see that God has angels when making the Creation. We not only tell about the Holy Trinity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the Creation, there were also angels.

Although the angles were created holy, many sinned, yes, even being in the very presence of God, in the Heavens, they sinned and fell from their dignity, which cost them to be casted. As Charles Spurgeon spoke of in one of his famous sermons, the angels sinned, being in the presence of God, they were casted into the lake of fire and condemned eternally, for that reason any of us who would sin against God willingly becoming His enemy will likewise be condemned eternally. But, in Jesus Christ the payment for our sins is paid for when we repent, a forgiveness that it’s not in the reach of angels, for they sinned being in the glory, and we in the world dominate by the enemy of God. This will take us to Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned being in the world without sin, therefore their sin passed on to all humanity; but in the Son of God there is redemption, for God’s mercy for us is part of His heart.

The types of angels, according to the Bible include, angels, archangels Gabriel, cherubim, seraphim Isaiah 6:2-6, myriads, principalities, powers...

Many are the passages of the Bible that describe the appearance of the angels, and not only theirs, but God’s in a spiritual way. We find angels also in the Ark of the Covenant, in the Temple of Jerusalem, and they are described to us in prophetical passages like, Hebrews 9:5.

Therefore, the types of angels which were originally all holy, has changed, because many rebelled and fell from their dignity, those are known as demons, followers of the devil or Satan, to whom the Lord rebuke. They are powerful equally as the holy angels, and dedicate to try to make people, including Christians, to sin, to separate from God, they rebel against Him, they seek worship. This is a characteristic of idolatry, those who bow before images including those Christian, they do not know that there is one of those angels behind seeking the place of God and the honour of His children. Exodus 20:4, Deuteronomy 5:7. On the contrary when John bowed at the feet of the angel who was of God, immediately replied:

...See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and or your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus... Revelation 19:10, a perfect declaration of holiness of a true angel coming from God. The Bible equips us against those who are enemies and warns us that we shall wear the full armour of God to face the darts of the devil. Ephesians 6.

DO WE HAVE A GUARDIAN ANGEL? THE ANGEL OF YAHWEH AND YAHSHUA - JESUS CHRIST

"...The Angel of Yahweh encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." Psalm 34:7. The Angel of Yahweh is Jesus Christ Himself.

"...Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I haves spoke to you." Genesis 28:15.

The previous paragraph makes almost totally clear the question whether a guardian angel exists for each person. I say almost because we must remember where the idea comes from, and whether of not is Biblical. His power and superior intelligence than man's, but Jesus Christ is superior to them, Hebrews 1:7-8. They do not reproduce, Mark 12:25.

The prayer of some traditional churches to a supposed guardian angel is known, although not Biblical, but it's history goes back to the ancient Greece, where we find a letter from Plato to Felon where he tells him about a guardian angel; some think of an angel of custody. On the other hand, in Judaism it is found in some traditions like the Kabala where it tells of specific angels of protection, but in no case it is a doctrine of God's Law, but from paganism. It is not of Biblical origin.

Therefore we must not pray, nor seek the intercession of any angel, only to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the only mediator between God and man, through the Holy Spirit. What happens is that many want God to be some kind of "genius of the lamp" who will grant them their wishes, and sinning against God they seek for other beings who might concede what they want; the result will be punishment, like their death or of their son as Saul received when he visited the woman who was a medium at En Dor so she would call the spirit of Samuel the prophet, 1Samuel 28:7. Do not pray nor call saints, nor virgins or angels, if they are of God, if they could speak to you they would tell you to pray to God in Christ.

Anyone who reads the Bible knows what God says of Himself: ...Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep... Psalm 121:4. God is "omnipresent and almighty, amongst other attributes" He is everywhere, keeps us all, can do it all, know it all, always listens to us with patience and love, always has time for us, like the child that comes to his good Father, there is no one out of Him to whom we can come for the blessing and the love of God. Jesus Christ is the Way, and the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father, except through me, John 14:6.

The Angel of Yahweh encamps around us and keeps us, is the great message that we must remember every single day, and this Angel is not an individual guardian angel for each believer, like it has been promulgated falsely, leaving aside once again the doctrine of God in the Bible, and following man traditions. Jesus Christ has many time been identified with the Angel of Yahweh, as a theophany of God, Zechariah 1:12 and stopped appearing after His incarnation.

MISSION OF THE ANGELS TODAY, IN HISTORY AND IN FUTURE PROPHECIES

As we find, the angels have been part of creation with their intervention with God since He created them. They have also been in the great events of Biblical history, Revelation 8:4. Angles are not to whom we pray, but they carry our prayers to God and bring the replies. "Important to understand the difference". We have one of the best stories in Jacob's Ladder: Genesis 28:10-22.

In history the angels have always been there, even when man has not seen them. The Bible gives testimony of this along human history, from the beginning until the coming of Christ in glory as King.

The angels participated in Creation.

The angles have been in the transcription of the Law of God.

The angels have taken God's message to the prophets.

The angels have fought in battles for Israel and for the Church.

The angels have been present and have announced the birth of the Messiah Jesus Christ.

The angels have been in the resurrection and have announced it to the apostles and to the women who went to the sepulchre.

The angles of the seven churches of Revelation are in them and participate of their government.

The angels will pour the plagues of Revelation into the world under command of God, and will be in the battle of Armageddon.

The angels will come with Jesus Christ in His manifestation to humanity, in glory at the end of days, to establish His Kingdom.

The angels are still in the presence of God and worship Him day and night for ever and ever.

However, and despite their superior temporary essence, the angels desire to look into the intimate spiritual matters between God and us, 1Peter 1:12.

The angels of God, therefore help us win the souls for Christ.

THE JUDGEMENT TO THE ANGELS

"...Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? 1Corinthians 6:3.

Precisely, because many angels sinned -as we read at the beginning- they will be judged, and they will be through us, the Church, once we are in glory with God in His Kingdom, when we will be made superior than the angels.

The holy angels are there to help us, guide us, talk to us, defend us (some of these experiences are now limited to Biblical time of the past) but others are still to come, like the prophecies of Revelation and others of the N.T.

God will bless those angels who have been obedient to His purposes, and that with love of God have served God and men; may the Lord guard those angels who are co servants of us, though we sill see them in the Kingdom of God.

BIBLICAL TEXTS ABOUT ANGELS

...And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. ¹²And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. Genesis 22:11.

...And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. Genesis 28:12.

...And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Exodus 3:2.

...The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. Psalm 34:7.

...The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. Matthew 13:39.

...And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. John 20:13.

...And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. ⁹Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God. Revelation 22:8.

CONCLUSION

The subject of angels has not been treated much, but however it is relevant for the life of the Christ. John Calvin, one of the pillars of Protestantism in his mayor work "Institution of Christina Religion I, XIX, 3 writes about angels with much precision.

We can resume that the angels that are part of God, those who have kept their dignity and holiness, are part of the celestial army of God and are on our side every day for the work of God.

The angels are not beings to which we shall direct our prayers, but only to God by mediation of Jesus Christ, the only mediator between God and men. The angels of God take prayers to God and bring the replies.

There is no guardian angel per person as such, even though in the ancient Greece or in the Kabala it appears, but that God keeps each one of us, and according to Him has all the time in the world, the power and the dedication to doing so, we shall therefore not fear anything, and whatever has to happen to us it cannot be avoided through other guards, who would be against the will of God. Our faith is proven in this.

The pending prophecies will be fulfilled, as they have been doing along history, as all the prophecy of the Bible is Word of God. The angels that are part of God are involved in their fulfilment.

The angels of God fight at our side to protect us and to gain souls for God in the Great Commission.

Finally lets not forget that we shall judge the angles when we are in the Kingdom of God, and those who have obeyed and loved God will be for ever in His presence to worship and praise Him.

The closing Text is Revelation 22.16: "...I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star". Amen.