Invisible War
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Lesson 1: Angels
Lesson 1: Angels
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ” Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and “ ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ” Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.
In that passage, what physical things are described. Things that we can see and hear and touch and smell and taste?
What supernatural things did we hear mentioned?
From the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, we witness him engaging in a war on two realms simultaneously.
The physical realm and the invisible spiritual realm of angels and demons and an enemy named satan (the accuser).
He engaged in this war, this mission to seek out the lost, to rescue broken humanity from the grip of death and to bring new life, by exerting his authority and power over physical and spiritual ailments.
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
As he taught his disciples, there came a point when he authorized them to do the same things he was doing:
And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction.
1. What authority has Jesus given to his disciples?
2. Is there a separation between natural and supernatural in the ministry of the church?
Throughout the history of the Church, to carry out the mission of Jesus has always meant engaging in supernatural ministry. Working in two realms - the physical and the spiritual.
The Church, as a worldwide body, has always understood that the separation of heaven and earth, of things seen and things unseen, to be the result of the fall, when sin entered humanity.
However, starting in the 60’s and 70’s, many mainline churches - especially clergy and seminary professors, became selective in their view of the supernatural. Modernism and rationalism left little room for anything that could not be proven. While many in Church claim belief in the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - which you cannot do without supernatural belief - , any talk of angels, demons, Satan, has by-in large been held at a distance - usually explained away as primitive belief or normalized by ascribing angels and demons to our human psyche - i.e. our better angels or our personal demons. Not actual created beings.
However, today there has been a return or a growing wonder toward the supernatural. According to an AP poll, Belief in angels (69%) and heaven (69%) is more widespread than belief in the devil (56%) or hell (58%). Eighty-three percent of adults believe that there are things which science or nature cannot explain, roughly the same amount as believe in God or another higher power (79%).
In this study, my goal is to present the supernatural as the writers of the Bible understood the world. Jesus walked on this earth during a time when people saw the world through both physical and spiritual eyes.
Full disclaimer:
I have no issue believing in angels and demons and Satan. When I read what the scriptures say and I observe the world around me - there is no doubt in my mind.
I do not see a demon under every bush, I know most weird things that happen in life have a scientific explanation...and I do not believe the devil makes me sin, I can do that all by myself.
But I’ve also had experiences and know of the direct experiences of good trustworthy people who have dealt with supernatural activity to know that there is more than meets the eye.
Now before we jump in - does any one have an angel story they want to share?
From Leslie Moore:
Truly the Angels were with me more than once today. I know that the man who sat next to me on the Amtrak train this morning going to NYC was an Angel--he told me how to get where I was going and gave some very good suggestions. There were many other Angels along the way today. The man with his pregnant wife who made me feel protected though we never spoke. I know that the woman who sat across from me on the Amtrak train home who lent me her cell phone charger so that I could reach family members and friends was an Angel. (My phone had been fully charged; however, I had worn out the battery while trying to reach people during the 3 hours of evacuation.) It was NOT a “coincidence” that her charger “happened” to work with my phone. We know that there is no such thing as coincidence. I know that the woman with whom I walked from the Metro train to the Metro garage was an Angel. I also know that man on the Metro train would have hurt me badly but the Lord protected me.
The Lord our God had an incredibly busy day and yet he found time to send Angels to protect me. It is so unfathomable to me. I am so unimportant in the scheme of things and yet He found time for me. He finds time for each of us every day. It is important that we look for those times and recognize Him.
Our God IS AN AWESOME GOD. There are Angels among us each and every day. We just need to look around and see God’s work and praise Him for his presence in our lives. Perhaps we can use this horrendous day to make a difference--to be an angel to someone else.
Definition:
ANGEL (מַלְאָךְ, mal'akh; מַלְאַךְ, mal'akh; ἄγγελος, angelos). Heavenly messengers in the Bible. The Hebrew and Greek words usually translated as “angel” are probably better translated as “messenger.”
The Hebrew and Greek terms usually translated as “angel” are used for both human and heavenly messengers—context determines whether the messenger was sent from God or from an earthly authority.
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.
Compare to Exodus 33:1-2
The Lord said to Moses, “Depart; go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up out of the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, ‘To your offspring I will give it.’ I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
The context of the passage will let you know what type of messenger we are talking about.
There is also different terms used of Angels (and for this lesson we are only focusing on obedient angels):
Angel
Angel of the Lord
Angel of God
Angel of the Church
Archangel
Elect angels
Elohim - members of the spiritual realm
Included in this word:
Yahweh (Gen 2:4-5)
Members of Yahweh’s council (Psalm 82)
Demons (Deut 32:17)
the deceased Samuel (1 Sam 28:13)
Angels or the Angel of Yahweh (Gen 35:7)
Archangel - The word archangel comes from a Greek word, archangelos, meaning “chief angel.” It’s a compound word formed from archon(“chief” or “ruler”) and aggelos (“angel” or “messenger”). The Bible suggests in several places that angels have a hierarchy of leadership, and an archangel seems to be the leader of other angels.
Michael is the only archangel listed in the Bible by name, but Daniel 10:13 suggest there are others.
Archangel is only mentioned twice. 1 Thess 4:16
For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
and Jude 1:9
But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”
In some cases, where we read “Angel of the Lord” and listen to what is being said - we see that the Angel may be the pre-incarnate Christ (God in the form of a man). Read Genesis 22:11-18
I want us to take a few minutes and look up some scripture passages that mention angels and I want you to jot down what the angel provided - what did the angel actually do:
But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send his angel with you and prosper your way. You shall take a wife for my son from my clan and from my father’s house.
And when we cried to the Lord, he heard our voice and sent an angel and brought us out of Egypt. And here we are in Kadesh, a city on the edge of your territory.
And when the angel stretched out his hand toward Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord relented from the calamity and said to the angel who was working destruction among the people, “It is enough; now stay your hand.” And the angel of the Lord was by the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
“I saw in the night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were red, sorrel, and white horses. Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ So the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, ‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to patrol the earth.’ And they answered the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, ‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth remains at rest.’ Then the angel of the Lord said, ‘O Lord of hosts, how long will you have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these seventy years?’ And the Lord answered gracious and comforting words to the angel who talked with me. So the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion.
And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said,
When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.
Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
Angels:
give guidance
deliverance from harm
protect
bring death and destruction
give revelation from God
travel with God’s people
make predictions
address the Lord
separate the wicked from the righteous
can meet and communicate with humans
will be judged by humans
moves tomb stones
opens prison doors/removes chains
can suddenly appear and disappear
rejoice when one sinner repents
accompany the Son of God when he returns
John Wesley in his sermon on Angels, after contemplating their great understanding and wisdom (as living beings who have never died but have been present from the beginning of creation) and great strength (based on several scripture passages) and power (“power either to cause or remove pain and diseases, either to kill or to heal”), said this:
“Is it not their first care to minister to our souls? But we must not expect this will be done with observation; in such a manner, as that we may clearly distinguish their working from the workings of our own minds. We have no more reason to look for this, than for their appearing in a visible shape. Without this, they can, in a thousand ways, apply to our understanding. They may assist us in our search after truth, remove many doubts and difficulties, throw light on what was before dark and obscure, and confirm us in the truth that is after godliness. They may warn us of evil in disguise; and place what is good, in a clear, strong light. They may gently move our will to embrace what is good, and fly from that which is evil. They may, many times, quicken our dull affections, increase our holy hope or filial fear, and assist us more ardently to love Him who has first loved us.”
The passage John Wesley was preaching on was Heb 1:14
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Among their other duties, angels are God’s ministering agents.
Billy Graham wrote this about angels:
God’s Ministering Agents
On a deserted, narrow mountain road along a steep cliff, three missionaries realized they needed to turn their car around and go back down the mountain. But how? They could barely see in the heavy snow, and there wasn’t much room—they could easily slide off the cliff. They prayed. A car appeared, coming from the opposite direction. A man stepped out and offered to turn the missionaries’ car for them, and then he told the missionaries to follow him down the mountain, which they gladly did. Near the bottom, the man’s car suddenly disappeared.
Reports like this can only be explained as heavenly help from God’s angels! In the Bible, angels sometimes could be seen—at the birth of Jesus, for example. But usually angels go about their business unseen and unrecognized. They never draw attention to themselves, but they point us to Jesus instead. God’s angels are empowered by Him and perfectly do His will, so their work is not to be glorified, but rather glorify God who directs them. “Bless the Lord, you His angels, who excel in strength, who do His word” (Psalm 103:20).
We face dangers every day of which we are not even aware. Often God intervenes on our behalf through the use of His angels. The Bible tells us that God gives “His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11). But we must never worship them. Instead, we should thank God for them because they do the will of the Father in Heaven.
In what ways do you think angels minister to us?
Wrap up today’s lesson with the Story of God’s Two Families by Justin Dillehay
Story of God’s Two Families
Story of God’s Two Families
If we start at the beginning, God “provided himself [with] two distinct, rational families,” angels and men. Both were made in God’s image, albeit with man a little lower than the angels. Still, both families were on the same side—God’s side. But then a great rupture occurred. Some angels rebelled, followed by all men.
In his sovereign justice, God passed by the fallen angels, offering no redemption (Heb. 2:16). But in his great kindness, he carried out an eternal plan in which the Son of God became lower than the angels by assuming human nature, so that through death he could defeat the evil angels and redeem his human brothers (Heb. 2:5–18).
In the end, it will be the holy angels who gather us to Jesus (Matt. 24:31). Then, with his authority, we’ll judge the evil angels and take their place as rulers of the earth (1 Cor. 6:3; Deut. 32:8–9; 131).
In the meantime, the holy angels serve us (Heb. 1:14), since Jesus has reconciled us and placed us back on the same team. Though torn asunder by rebellion, God’s two families have been made one again in Christ Jesus. And so, far from envying the grace shown to us, they rejoice in our repentance (Luke 15:10), obsess over our salvation (1 Pet. 1:12), and marvel at God’s manifold wisdom in forming one church out of many warring peoples through the blood of his cross (Eph. 3:10; 2:11–22).
Contrary to popular belief, we’ll never become angels. But we’ll meet them in glory as all things in heaven and earth are united in Christ (Eph. 1:10). We’ll gather with them around the throne to worship our mutual Father and King (Rev. 7:9–12). And we will “join [them] in a blended divine family and actually outrank [them] in a new global Eden” (177).
