That's lovely Micci.........
When I first put our forum together I put together a bible study together about 'Angels'. I thought this would be a great time to cross-post it; It's a true account to what God created..........
Back in June two years when God inspired me to put Friends of Jesus forum together, Sharon & I were both watching on the satellite TV (SKY) a series called “Touched by an Angel”, and as we got in to it we both realized that we both took Angels for granted. During the showing of this program I looked on to their hosted website and found out that the ideas for the series originated from Billy Grahams book – “Angels God’s Secret Agents”. Well Sharon wanted to find me a birthday present in July and purchased Billy Grahams book for me; I have to say that this has been a very big eye opener for me with what the Angels of God are all about; So for our next subject here on the forum we will have a look at Gods secret agents and hopefully will give you a better insight to them as well. May be after this, you might like to get your self a copy of this book; I highly recommend it for those who want to do there own Bible study on Angels.
Have Angels always been in existence like Our God or were they created? – The bible tells us that like us they were created; at the beginning was nothing other than our Triune God: which is Father, Son & Holy Spirit. If we look at what Paul says in Colossians 1:16 it says, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.” It’s not mentioned in scriptures when they were created, but from Gods word its says in Job 38:1-7 “ Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge? Now prepare yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me. “ Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
Its worth mentioning here that as they were created by our God the Father, one thing we should never do is worship them as we find out in Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (NKJV)
What do they look like & what do they do? Don’t believe everything you read about Angels. Some people would like us to believe that they are only spiritual willo’-the-wisps as B.Graham quotes. Some view them as only celestial beings with beautiful wings and bowed heads…… In Genesis 1:26 it says that man was created in God’s image, but the bible states no-where that the angels are created in His image; Angels are spiritual beings that can though to a certain degree, take on physical form, we read that quite a few times in scripture when angels make there appearance to various people “Mary & Joseph” for example. We will take a look in a moment of their visible & invisible appearances in a moment.
But why were they created in the first place and what are their roles? To understand that we need to understand what the word Angel means. Well “angel” comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger”. There’s a matching word in Hebrew mal’ak which as the same meaning.
Though they have wills, angels, like all creatures, are subject to the will of God. Good angels are sent by God to help believers (Hebrews 1:14).” Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?”
Here is a list of some activities the Bible ascribes to angels:
They praise God (Psalm 148:1-2; Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights! Praise Him, all His angels Praise Him, all His hosts! and Isaiah 6:2-3 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: “ Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!” ).
They worship God (Hebrews 1:6 But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: “Let all the angels of God worship Him.” and Revelation 5:8-13 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For you were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”).
They rejoice in what God does (Job 38:6-7 To what were its foundations fastened? Or who laid its cornerstone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?).
They serve God (Psalm 103:20 Bless the LORD, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word. and Revelation 22:9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”).
They appear before God (Job 1:6; Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.+ Job 2:1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.).
They are instruments of God's judgments (Revelation 7:1 After these things I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree. + Rev. 8:2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets).
They bring answers to prayer (Acts 12:5-10 Peter was therefore kept in prison, but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and tie on your sandals”; and so he did. And he said to him, “Put on your garment and follow me.” So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.).
They aid in winning people to Christ (Acts 8:26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is desert. Then in Acts 10:3 About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, “Cornelius!”).
They observe Christian order, work, and suffering (1 Corinthians 4:9 For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. Plus Ephesians 3:10 To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places; Then 1 Peter 1:12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into).
They encourage in times of danger (Acts 27:23-24 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ ).
They care for the righteous at the time of death (Luke 16:22 So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried).
They also ministered to Jesus as we read here in (Matthew 4:11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him. And then in Luke 22:43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him.
Despite their great ability to do as much as they can do, they are limited in knowledge; In Matthew 24:36 it says “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” The question of the day is whether each person or each believer as it were has an angel assigned to one self. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel had the archangel (Michael) assigned to it (Daniel 10:21; 12:1), but Scripture nowhere states that an angel is “assigned” to an individual (angels were sometimes sent to individuals as we have already seen, but there is no mention of permanent assignment). The belief in guardian angels has been around for a long time, but there is no explicit scriptural basis for it.
How many Angels are there and do they reproduce? While the Scriptures give no definite figures, we are told that the number of angels is very great (Daniel 7:10 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened; Matthew 26:53 Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?; Hebrews 12:22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels). It appears that all angels were created at one time, they don’t re-produce. Either do Angels experience death or any form of extinction; therefore they do not decrease in number. In Matthew 22:30, Jesus points out that “In resurrection they (men) neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven”
Angels Visible or invisible? Well both, here are some bible verses of both. We see in Job 4:15-18 Then a spirit passed before my face; The hair on my body stood up. It stood still, But I could not discern its appearance. A form was before my eyes; There was silence; Then I heard a voice saying: ‘Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker? If He puts no trust in His servants, If He charges His angels with error
In Daniel 6:22 we read My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.
Both Daniel & John both describe the glories of the Angels (Daniel 10:6 His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude.& Revelation 10:1 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire.) Most of us though know the story of Mary & Joseph & their visit..... Perhaps you could find other quotes that share their different appearances.
Satan & the fallen angels We have looked at the good Angels, but Satan where does he come in on all this:- I would imagine Satan must have a great belly laugh when people can only see him as a red character with a long tail & a pitch fork in his hand. Let’s take a real look at this Satan (Lucifer the son of the morning). He was created as a holy angel. Isaiah 14:12 possibly gives Satan’s pre-fall name as Lucifer “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground You who weakened the nations!”. Ezekiel 28:12-14 describes Satan as having been created a cherubim, apparently the highest created angel “Son of man, take up a lamentation for the king of Tyre, and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “ You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering: The sardius, topaz, and diamond, Beryl, onyx, and jasper, Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald with gold. The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created. “You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; you were on the holy mountain of God; you walked back and forth in the midst of fiery stones”. He became arrogant in his beauty and status and decided he wanted to sit on a throne above that of God (Isaiah 14:13-14; Ezekiel 28:15; 1 Timothy 3:6). Satan’s pride led to his fall. Notice the many “I will” statements in Isaiah 14:12-15. Because of his sin, God barred Satan from heaven.
We see Satan became the ruler of this world and the prince of the power of the air (John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out; 2 Corinthians 4:4 Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them; Ephesians 2:2 In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience).
He is an accuser (Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down ), A tempter (Matthew 4:3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”;
1 Thessalonians 3:5 For this reason, when I could no longer endure it, I sent to know your faith, lest by some means the tempter had tempted you, and our labor might be in vain), and a deceiver (Genesis 3: 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; Revelation 20:3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while). His very name means “adversary” or “one who opposes.” Another of his titles, the devil, means “slanderer.” Even though he was cast out of heaven, he still seeks to elevate his throne above God. He counterfeits all that God does, hoping to gain the worship of the world and encourage opposition to God's kingdom. Satan is the ultimate source behind every false cult and world religion. Satan will do anything and everything in his power to oppose God and those who follow God. However, Satan’s destiny is sealed—an eternity in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever).
He’s not a lone in this as we find out here:- God created everything good because God, in His holiness, cannot create something sinful. So when Satan, who was once the angel Lucifer, rebelled against God and fell from heaven (Isaiah 14; Ezekiel 28), one third of the angelic host joined his insurrection (Revelation 12:3-4,9 And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. 4 His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. PLUS So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him). There is no doubt these fallen angels are now known as the demons.
We know that hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, according to Matthew 25:41: “Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Jesus, by using the possessive word his makes it clear that these angels belong to Satan. Revelation 12:7-9 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. This describes the end-times angelic battle between Michael and "his angels" and the devil and "his angels." From these and similar verses, it is clear that demons and fallen angels are synonymous.
I could spend more time in looking in the word of God for more & more about angels but what I would like to leave you with a couple of thoughts on this topic is that A) as a Christian we do need to think about strangers out there for it says in Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. And (B) when you made your commitment to Jesus when ever that was; Look at what it reads in Luke 15:10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” In that fantastic!
If you have never made that commitment, then why not do it today; click on this link to read more on
becoming a Christian. I hope you have found this helpful; we have prepared a game for you all to play. If you would like to play then click on the following
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