Holy angels guard believers
Holy angels guard believers (Pss. 34:7; 91:11), little ones in particular (Matt. 18:10), and constantly observe what goes on in the church (1 Cor. 11:10). It is implied that they are more knowledgeable about divine things than humans are (Mark 13:32), and that they have a special ministry to believers at the time of their death (Luke 16:22), but we know no details about any of this. Suffice it to pinpoint the relevance of angels by saying that if at any time we stand in need of their ministry, we shall receive it; and that as the world watches Christians in hope of seeing them tumble, so do good angels watch Christians in hope of seeing grace triumph in their lives.
The mysterious “angel of the Lord” or “angel of God,” who appears often in the early Old Testament story and is sometimes identified with the God from whom he is at other times distinguished (Gen. 16:7-13; 18:1-33; 22:11-18; 24:7, 40; 31:11-13; 32:24-30; 48:15-16; Exod. 3:2-6; 14:19; 23:20-23; 32:34–33:5; Num. 22:22-35; Josh. 5:13-15; Judg. 2:1-5; 6:11-23; 9:13-23), is in some sense God acting as his own messenger, and is commonly seen as a preincarnate appearance of God the Son.
Angelic activity was prominent at the great turning points in the divine plan of salvation (the days of the patriarchs, the time of the Exodus and giving of the law, the period of the Exile and restoration, and the birth, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ), and it will be prominent again when Christ returns (Matt. 25:31; Mark 8:38).
Angels remind and teach us of the power and character of God. And as they function intelligently, doing exactly what He appoints, they are superb examples of how we ought to serve God. We have no indication that any unfallen angel ever deviated in the least from the task set by God. Take Michael and Gabriel, whose names even contribute to this. Michael means “who is like God” and Gabriel means “man of God” or “God has shown Himself strong,” In function and appelation these two, especially, display the angel’s role as reflecting characteristics of God Himself. This is nowhere more evident than in the complex apocalyptic passage of Ezek. 1:1–28, where living beings (identified in Ezek. 10:15 as cherubs) are described in physical terms as dashing to and fro to attend to the bidding of God,
Gabriel.
One of only two named angels in the Bible, the other being Michael (the only archangel?); always appears in an announcing role, so apparently he is God’s messenger par excellence; the name means “man of God” or “strong one of God”; Lk. 1:26ff.
Ministry to Christ. Angels have a significant ministry to Christ . Angels predicted His birth (2) Angels protected Him in infancy, Angels ministered to Him after the temptation, Angels strengthened Him at Gethsemane Angels announced His resurrection, The angels invited the women to enter the empty tomb to see the empty wrappings that they might be certain of the resurrection and proclaim it to the world. The angels reminded the women of Jesus’ earlier promise that He would rise on the third day.
(6) Angels attended His ascension (7) Angels will attend His Second
Angel. The Hebrew word malak simply means “messenger” ; it may refer to a human messenger (1 Kings 19:2) or a divine messenger (Gen. 28:12). The basic meaning of the word is “one who is sent.” As a divine messenger an angel is a “heavenly being charged by God with some commission.”1 The word is found 103 times in the Old Testament. The Greek word angelos occurs 175 times in the New Testament; however, of men it is used only 6 times. The word angelos is similar to the Hebrew malak; it also means “messenger...who speaks and acts in the place of the one who has sent him.”
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