On an episode of one of the most listened to podcast’s in America, the host and his guest discussed conspiracies. Specifically, they talked about big foot. The host said talking about big foot is fun but all in all the reality of big foot is just unlikely. Fun but not realistic. However, on the topic of aliens the host recounted how (some?) experts believe that what’s probably going on is that aliens live in the ocean. Big foot is fun and silly but, “the alien thing is fun and likely. There’s something going on…sometimes I think what [the aliens] are is something that’s monitoring us and making sure we don’t blow ourselves up…”, the host commented in all seriousness.
It might sound silly but the host is 100% right in one thing he said. I couldn’t agree more. There’s something going on. However, the Bible teaches me what’s going on is different than what the host of that podcast thinks. Let’s talk about what’s going on. Welcome to the topic of angels.
This blog is going to cover what angels are, if they are active today, what they do, and finally, where do we go from here with our biblical understanding of angels. And before we start we need to settle into the reality that talking of angels is no weird or abnormal. First, believing in the activity of the invisible, the otherworldly, has become culturally normal. Second, believing in the activity of angels is historically normal in the church. The old Nicene Creed of the 4th century states that Christians “believe in one God . . . maker of . . . all things visible and invisible”. Historically Christians have believed in guardian angels of not only people but churches. “Both Luther and Calvin had a vivid conception of [the ministry of angels] and particularly of the presence and power of Satan” (unfortunately I can’t remember where this quote is from). Luther wrote, “That angels are with us is very sure, and no one should ever have doubted it,” (What Luther Says). Third, believing in the activity of angels is biblically normal. Theologian Louis Berkouf writes, “…Scripture…makes no deliberate attempt to prove the existence of angels, but assumes this throughout, and in its historical books repeatedly shows us the angels in action. No one who bows before the authority of the Word of God can doubt the existence of angels.”
So, what are angels? To answer that, we should remember that we live in the midst of an active war that heavily involves unseen realities with which we live. This is our everyday reality whether we know it or care about it. Eph. 6:12 says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Why do we need strength and armor? Because we live in active wartime. We have the warring parties of the devil, rulers, authorities, cosmic powers, spiritual forces of evil and ultimately Jesus who is “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named…”. This is not a fair fight, thankfully. We wrestle in this fight. The Belgic Confession states, “The devils and evil spirits…lie in wait for the church and every member of it…”. Luther warns, “A Christian should know that he is sitting among devils…” Here’s the big picture: we’re involved in active war in one aspect as objects of Satan’s wrath as he seeks to steal, kill, and destroy us.
We know Satan has his squad of demons but God has his own army. Angels. This squadron of angels is active throughout the Bible, from the very beginning. They are so active it should never surprise you to read of an angel doing something in the Bible. I’m not implying we see them constantly but it’s normal. In the New Testament alone we read an angel appears to Joseph three times, an angel meets with Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, an angel appears to Mary an angel appears to shepherds when Jesus was born, an angel descends to roll back the stone of Jesus’ tomb and causes an earthquake, an angel meets with the women who came for Jesus, in Acts 5 some are released from prison by an angel, in Acts 8 an angel meets Philip, in Acts 10 Cornelius meets an angel, in Acts 27 an angel appears to Paul on ship in a bad storm and the book of Revelation came through an angel to John. The topic of angels might feel weird to us but it shouldn’t.
Acts 12 contains my favorite angelic story because it shows some interesting things and it’s funny. The story shows how the early church was not surprised at all by angels. In Acts 12 we read that Herod arrests Peter, puts him in prison, guards him by four squads of soldiers and one night Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, in chains, and guards were at the door. That night an angel shows up, lights up the cell, strikes Peter on the side waking him up, and Peter’s chains fell off his hands. The angel tells him to put his cloths on and says “follow me.” Notice that somehow the guards were not disturbed. Angels seem to not be as limited by space and physics as much as us.
The story says Peter thought he was dreaming. It didn’t feel real apparently. They walked past the guards and the gate to the city just mysteriously opened. Then suddenly the angel disappeared. Angels seem to be fairly powerful and intelligent here. Also, you’ve probably heard a story where some mysterious person helps someone then suddenly disappears. Multiple people close to me have those stories. Seems like a tendency of angels to do that.
Only when all this occurred did Peter realize, quote, “the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me”. Isn’t it interesting how people only realize in hindsight when they’ve been helped by, possibly, an angel? Now, here is the funny part that shows us early church thinking on the subject of angels. Peter goes to a house where Christians are, knocks, and Rhoda sees Peter and is so happy she runs back to tell the people in the house. They say: “You are out of your mind.” They think there is no way Peter is there. He’s surely still in jail or dead by now. Listen: “…But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” It was more believable to them that it was an angel knocking on the door than Peter. Read that sentence again.
It was a common belief in Jewish thought at this time that messenger-Angels would sometimes show up looking and sounding like the person they had a message about. Perhaps they thought, “Rhoda, it can’t be Peter. It’s maybe his angel who appears like him to validate that the message is about him.” I’m not saying that’s true, about angels showing up looking and sounding like people, but the point here is the early church was wildly comfortable with the idea of angels showing up.
Notice one more thing in this story. Peter finally is let in and we read, “But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.” Peter doesn’t seem obsessed with the angelic experience here. He is amazed at what the Lord did. We’ll circle back to this focus later.
In reading the New Testament we see clearly how the early church was hyper aware of angels. They are constantly mentioned. For example, think about one of the most popular passages in the whole Bible from Romans 8. “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Paul is not here just trying to be really poetic by mentioning angels. If we really believe in this powerful creatures, especially the fact that some have fallen and now serve Satan, it makes sense that we might wonder, “Can they separate me from God? Do they have that power?” Paul says, “No!” Another example from Galatians 1: “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.” Again, Paul isn’t being poetic as though no angel would ever actually show up. Paul knows this can happen. Mormonism is based on Joseph Smith’s encounter with an “angel” who preached a false gospel to him. He didn’t follow Gal. 1:8 but rather believe the creature that came to him. The Bible goes so far as to command us not to worship angels! Over and again the Bible assumes we believe in angels and that we may even encounter them and the Bible wants us to think rightly about them.
Alright, so what exactly are angels? Let’s highlight six points. First, they are created, not eternal beings. Col. 1:16 - For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. Second, they are great in number. Rev. 5:11 - Then I looked, and I heard…the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. Third, they are spirits, not embodied creatures though they can appear to have normal human bodies. Berkouf comments, “It is clear…that they are creatures and therefore finite and limited, though they stand in a freer relation to time and space than man” (Berkouf 144). Fourth, they are rational and moral. They can morally rebel, as some have. 1 Pt. 1:12 says the gospel is something “into which angels long to look.” Fifth, they are powerful. Ps. 103:20 – “Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word...” Lastly, they might be ordered in ranks as an army has ranks. Some may be assigned to various regions and kingdoms.
With that, the question we are all asking is whether they are active today and what they do? Most of what they do can fall under two umbrellas or categories. The second category will take most of our attention.
First, angels worship God. Ps. 148 says, “Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts!” Rev. 5:11 says, “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne…the voice of many angels…” The dividing line between the warring parties in the spiritual war is whether you worship God or not. The fallen angels do not.
Second, angels are warriors, soldiers, protectors, and guards commissioned to protect us. In Mt. 26 when Peter starts to fight again those who came to take Jesus away, Jesus says, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Ps. 91:11-12 – “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. 12 On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Heb. 1:14 - Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Think of Elisha’s story. His story is not meant to be a one off. We too are to be able to say, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
This is why many of us have either had a weird experience, know someone who has, or has heard a story of someone who has had a weird experience where a person helps them in some much needed manner and then, often, suddenly disappears. Angels are soldiers sent by God to take care of His people. John Calvin writes, “like soldiers, [they] have their eyes always turned to their leader’s standard, and are so ready and prompt to execute his orders…” And what are their orders? To serve and protect and guard us. Again, Calvin writes that in holding “the office of our protectors [soldiers], they war against the devil and all our enemies, and execute vengeance upon those who afflict us.”
You might be asking now whether or not we have a single guardian angel. But it’s much better than that. Notice the plurality here: Ps. 91:11-12 - For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you… Martin Luther wrote, “What we should learn today is that our Lord God has so ordained that each Christian should have not only one but many angels protecting him…” Calvin believed, “Whether or not each believer has a single angel assigned to him for his defence, I dare not positively affirm….This, indeed, I hold for certain, that each of us is cared for, not by one angel merely, but that all with one consent watch for our safety.” You don’t just have merely one angel assigned to you, though the church has believed that historically. You have an army commissioned to guard you. And in knowing that, you should sense the love of God for you.
Let me address a few questions before we conclude by answering why this all matters to know and how this changes our daily lives.
First, we might ask why God uses angels at all? Why not do their work directly Himself? The answer is that God uses all sorts of means to accomplish his work, angels being just one of them. Also, this reality reveals powerfully the love of God. Notice the difference between saying, “God loves you and protects you…” versus “God loves you and protects you by surrounding you and His people with an army of powerful angels…”.
Second, if angels are so active, why aren’t there more stories of them among us. I think the answer is that would be beside the point. They are silent professionals, if you will. They don’t want the attention. Heb. 13 says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” Angels are pointers, ever pointing to away from themselves.
Lastly, if angels guard us, then why didn’t God send an angel to step in when…? I think the best way to answer that is to ask it differently because that question is less about angels and more about God. We could just as well ask, why didn’t God step in when…? And we answer that by remembering that God can be trusted when the horrific happens. He is good. He is loving. His ways are higher than ours.
So, why does this matter to know and where do we go from here? Here’s the big idea: the Bible teaches us to be extremely aware of the invisible – even angels - and to focus where angels want us to focus, namely, on the love of God for us. The Bible leads me to be extremely aware that we live among invisible realities, including angels. Martin Luther wrote, “You should be certain that angels are protecting you when you go to sleep. Yea, that they are protecting you also in all your business, whether you enter or leave your home.” Furthermore, Luther wrote, “…When you see that something has turned out well, be ready to say that a good angel prompted it, otherwise things would have gone worse for a person. To illustrate, when a person is saved from a flood or is unharmed when a stone falls on him, this is not luck but the work of a beloved angel.” We are to know with Elisha that “…those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Practically, this means when someone tells me a story about a mysterious rescue by a mysterious person or mysteriously disappear, I don’t start at a place of skepticism and doubt. I assume, “Yeah, you’re probably right, something odd happened. Perhaps it was an angel.”
With that, the Bible doesn’t want us to stop with a focus on angels. Angels don’t want glory and worship. They are messengers from God, showing us the love and care of God. All of this should lead us to trust in, worship, and be comforted by God, in the end. Christian, be comforted today that a powerful, invisible squad has been commissioned to look after you and God’s people, because He loves you.
