Angels are a fascinating subject, yet one that rarely is discussed in either church pulpits or religious literature. As a result, on occasion most Christians are left with a gaping void in their knowledge concerning angels, and therefore they frequently turn to the media or other poorly informed sources for answers to their questions about these heavenly creatures. The word “angel” is the translation of the Greek angelos and the Hebrew malawk, meaning “messenger.” Thus, the word actually says nothing about the nature of the being, but speaks instead to its function. On occasion, the word angel is used of a human messenger. Haggai was referred to as “Jehovah’s messenger [malawk]” (Haggai 1:13). God, through Malachi, referred to a priest as “my messenger [malawk]” (Malachi 2:7). And, John the Baptist also was referred to as a “messenger” [malawk] (Malachi 3:1). Matthew (11:10) likewise called John the Baptist a “messenger” (angelos). Angels worship and serve God (Isaiah 6:2-3; Revelation 22:8-9), and in ancient times were able to take on the form of humans as they delivered messages for Him (an angel spoke to Hagar to provide instructions from God—Genesis 16:10-12; an angel told Mary that she would bear the Christ-child—Luke 1:26ff.; angels were mentioned by Stephen in his stirring speech recorded in Acts 7:38,53, which referred to Exodus 19:18-25 where God addressed Moses through an angel during the wilderness wanderings). In some way, angels act on behalf of Christians. The writer of the book of Hebrews commented: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit salvation?” (1:13-14). Eventually, angels even take the spirits of the righteous dead into a state of happiness (Luke 16:22). “Dont forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” (Hebrews 13:2) Questions: Are angels still active in our lives? Do they still come to us in human form? Have you, personally, had an encounter with an angel? Have you ever had someone, very close to passing into eternity; tell you that they saw angels coming for them? If you don’t believe angels interact with us in any way, please explain why.
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 02:04:03 +0000
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