Episode 125 – But What About … Angels 2

Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script:  

Another angel came out of the temple in heaven, and he too had a sharp sickle.  Still another angel, who had charge of the fire, came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle, “Take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth’s vine….” 

Revelation, chapter 14, verses 17 and 18, New International Version

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VK: Hello. I’m Victoria K and today on Anchored by Truth we are continuing our latest study series brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’ve labeled this series “But what about” because a lot of time that’s how the questions about the Christian faith start. As we’ve noted before, Christianity is a faith that is firmly rooted in place and time. But that doesn’t mean that Christianity doesn’t have a supernatural dimension. It does. So, often when people encounter the supernatural aspect of the Christian faith they will ask questions like, “but what about angels and demons” or “but what about heaven and hell?” These are usually subjects that are familiar to most people, but which are actually poorly understood. So, we’re doing episodes on several of these subjects to see what the Bible actually has to say about them. I’m in the studio today with RD Fierro, author and Founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, last time we began our discussion of what about angels. Are we going to continue that today?

RD: Greetings to all the Anchored by Truth listeners. Thank you for joining us here today. And yes, today I do want to continue to talk about angels. We began this discussion last time but there are hundreds of times in the Bible where the term “angel” or “angels” is mentioned. So, there is so much to learn and talk about when it comes to angels that we could probably do many different shows on them. But we want to get to other subjects in this “what about” series so we’re just going to do one more show on the holy angels before we move to the other side.

VK: By the other side, I take you mean demons. Demons are also members of the angelic order but the demons are the ones who, in the words of Jude, “kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, [these] he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” That’s the King James Version. I like the phrase that the demons did not keep their estate.

RD: I do too. Other versions say the demons abandoned their authority or did not stay within the limits of their authority. So, in our next show we want to talk about what that means, especially as the demons fit into the Bible story as a whole. But for today, I want to finish talking about the positive side of the angelic order – the angels that remained faithful to God and have confirmed in that state of holiness and faithfulness for all time.

VK: Well, let’s get to it then. In our last episode we talked a lot about the nature and attributes of angels. We also said that today we want to talk about what angels do or have done. So, we want to move from angelic attributes to angelic actions.

RD: Yes. But I do want to make one final point that we didn’t get to cover last time. Despite the large number of angels that various people encountered in the Bible we know the names of only two.

VK: We know the archangel Michael and the messenger Gabriel. The name Michael means “who is like God.” The name Gabriel means “God is my strength.” But this does not include the names of angels mentioned in the Apocrypha does it?

RD: No. It does not. The Apocrypha are not considered to be canonical by most Protestant churches so the Roman Catholics and some of the Orthodox traditions do accept them as canonical. So, other angelic names such as Raphael and Uriel do appear in either the Apocrypha or some other ancient literature. Some lists contain as many as 8 named angels, but among the 66 books of the Bible generally used by Protestants only Michael and Gabriel are named.

 VK: Does this mean that other angels do not have names or that we just don’t know them?

RD: I would lean more toward the side that other angels do have names but they’re just not recorded in the Bible. In Luke 8:30 (Mark 5:9) there is the well-known encounter between Jesus and a man who was possessed by demons. In speaking to the demons, Jesus asks “what is your name?” Now, if other angels didn’t have names, there would have been no point in Jesus asking the question. 

VK: That makes sense. And the fact that angels have names reinforces the personal nature of angels. Angels aren’t just sort of spiritual robots that mechanically move around the universe. The Bible is clear the angels had freedom of choice just as humans do. The holy angels used their choice to be obedient to God. The demons used theirs to rebel.

RD: Yes. And that’s a good way to start out talking about the activities or functions that we see angels performing in the Bible. The holy angels are always seen doing things that implement God’s will and serving God’s purpose. There is no record in the Bible of any holy angel doing anything without either following an express command or doing something that directly furthers the plan of God. Quite often the angels will tell the humans with whom they are interacting that they are there at God’s command.

VK: An example of this in the Old Testament would be Daniel 10:12 where an angel says to Daniel, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer.” Here an angel appears to the prophet Daniel who has been praying earnestly about the future of the Jews. At this point in history the Jews had endured an exile from their homeland that had lasted almost 70 years. Daniel was quite naturally concerned with knowing when his people would be allowed to return home. To answer Daniel’s prayer God sent an angel. The first thing the angel did was to confirm to Daniel that he had come in response to Daniel’s prayer.

RD: Yes. A good New Testament example is found in Luke chapter 1. In verses 11 through 21 the angel Gabriel appeared to John the Baptist’s father and said, “Don't be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayers. Your wife Elizabeth will have a son, and you must name him John. His birth will make you very happy, and many people will be glad. Your son will be a great servant of the Lord.  … I am Gabriel, God's servant, and I was sent to tell you this good news.” Gabriel not only tells Zechariah that God has heard his prayers but that he was sent directly from God to give him the news he would have a son.

VK: So, this points out something that is important for modern believers to know. The holy angels always act on God’s instructions. The holy angels are very aware that God has a plan of salvation and that they have a role in that plan. And the angels would like to know more about the plan but they are keenly aware that the plan is centered around human beings and not them. In 1 Peter 1: 10 through 12 Peter says “Some prophets told how God would treat you with undeserved grace, and they searched hard to find out more about the way you would be saved. ... They preached to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven. And their message was only for you, even though angels would like to know more about it.”

RD: Yes. The holy angels are aware that after they and their fallen cousins made their choice to either obey or disobey God they are now active witnesses to the unfolding drama of God’s plan of redemption that is taking place in the physical realm. The holy angels play their part in the drama by serving to facilitate God’s purposes – whether for salvation or judgment. Their fallen cousins, the demons, are obviously trying to hinder the successful completion of the plan.

VK: So, again, this points to something very important for believers to understand. The Bible contains no reference to a holy angel acting on their own or outside God’s purposes or plan. Angels are described as performing a wide variety of functions. Some of the functions are hard for us to comprehend, at least at first. But those functions are always ones that are part of God’s plan and purposes.

RD: That’s why it doesn’t make any sense to direct any of our prayers toward an angel. Holy angels are only going to do what God tells them and I certainly hope no one would want to ask a demon for help. There’s no record in the Bible of any of God’s people directing prayers or petitions to an angel. Biblical prayers are directed to God and God may, or may not, elect to use angels as a part of His response to our prayers.

VK: And we are specifically instructed not to worship angels. Biblical worship is reserved for God only. In Revelation 19:10 the Apostle John has encountered a particularly magnificent angel – so magnificent that John is overcome with the need to respond. John writes, “Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, “No, don’t worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers and sisters who testify about their faith in Jesus. Worship only God.  For the essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.” That’s the New Living Translation.

RD: Right. That verse comes after the description of a great worship chorus that is taking place in heaven. The worship involves a vast crowd of the redeemed, the 24 elders (leaders of the human church), and some pretty remarkable angels. The angel John was speaking with appeared to be sort of a guide who was helping John comprehend the scenes that had been unfolding before him. So, John got caught up in all the worship that was going on and just fell at the angel’s feet to express his amazement. But the angel’s response clearly shows that the holy angels serve and worship God only.

VK: As should we. And that scene in chapter 19 shows one of the more common functions of angels. They sometimes serve as guides, teachers, or couriers. In this scene the angel is there to ensure that John records the events that God wants John to record. But earlier in Revelation in chapter 10 verse 4 John is told not to write something down. That verse says, “When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down.” These two verses with very different instructions are a very clear declaration that God is the one who decided what to put in Revelation – and for that matter the rest of the Bible.

RD: Yes. So, as we heard in our opening scripture Revelation is one of the books of the Bible where there is a great deal of angelic activity. Revelation helps us see the remarkable variety of tasks angels are assigned. Our scripture noted that there is an angel who has specially been given authority over a holy fire. In Revelation chapter 10 we see an angel acting as a herald. Revelation 10:5 - 7 says, “Then the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand toward heaven. [The angel] said, “There will be no more delay. When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced ...”

VK: And from that verse we see something else important. Angels apparently are not subject to the physical limits of creation the way we are. In Revelation 10:5 there is a description of an angel standing on water. In other parts of Revelation angels are seen flying. In Revelation chapter 14 verses 6 through 9 we have the description of 3 flying angels. For instance in verse 6 we hear, “I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.” But we don’t really know whether these descriptions are intended to be taken literally do we? I mean we don’t really know whether these verses are concerned with a real sea or a real sky.

RD: No we don’t. Many commentators think that some, or most, of Revelation is intended to be taken poetically, symbolically, or allegorically. But even if that is true God is still communicating important information to us about the angels in these descriptions. Remember it is God who is giving John these visions and inspiring John what to write. God is telling us that angels, who are spiritual beings, can interact with the physical creation but, as you noted, are not bound by the restrictions of the physical creation. In Genesis chapter 18 we have a scene where Abraham entertains 3 visitors that commentators identify as the Lord and 2 of His angels. In chapter 18 the angels are shown eating food in the way normal human beings do. But in chapter 19 those same angels strike all the men of Sodom with blindness.

VK: So, in the Bible angels are sometimes seen as interacting with the physical creation and abiding by the same boundaries which affect us. But at other times angels do things that display supernatural control over the physical realm. You mentioned Genesis chapters 18 and 19 but that same phenomenon occurs in Acts chapter 12. In Acts chapter 12 the Apostle Peter has been arrested and he is in jail. He is linked to two of his guards by locks and chains. An angel appears to rescue Peter. Apparently Peter is a pretty heavy sleeper because the angel has to hit Peter on the side to wake him up. That’s a physical interaction. But then the chains just fall off Peter’s wrists and as the angel is leading Peter out of the jail they pass by guard posts with no one noticing. Finally a locked iron gate to the street just unlocks and opens by itself. Those are clearly supernatural manipulations of the natural things. 

RD: Right. Sometimes the Bible contains descriptions of angels acting entirely in the supernatural realm. As in Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 and 2.

VK: Those verses say, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years.” 

RD: Right. So, sometimes the Bible contains descriptions of angels acting entirely in the supernatural realm while other times, as we just noted, they act within the natural realm but they display a supernatural degree of control over the physical creation. Another example of this was the angel at Jesus’ tomb rolling away a stone that it would have taken several men to move. This angel was so powerful that his arrival was preceded by an earthquake. The point is that angels, who are by nature spiritual beings, have the ability, at least at times, to interact with the physical realm. But while the angels are here in the physical realm they may or may not abide by physical laws. An angel who could roll away a stone weighing thousands of pounds would have killed Peter if he had exercised that degree of force when he slapped his side. So, clearly the angels have control over the forces they exercise when they’re operating within the physical order. 

VK: But we really don’t know whether this ability is inherent in them or whether it’s imparted to them for specific assignments, do we? And in our last episode we noted that the angelic order apparently has different groups and hierarchies. I suppose it’s possible different levels or groups to have different abilities.

RD:  Entirely possible but I do think we get some indication that the holy angels do inherently possess the ability to interact within the physical realm while not being bound by its limitations. Even the demons display this ability and God certainly would not be specifically empowering demons because the demons are never sent on missions for God. 

VK: An example of that is in Luke, chapter 8 where the demon-possessed homeless man has been living in a cemetery. When Jesus confronted the demons the demons asked for permission to enter a nearby herd of pigs. After Jesus gave them permission they did so and then drowned the pigs in the Sea of Galilee. So, the demons also displayed the ability to act supernaturally while they are interacting with the physical creation. 

RD:  Yes. So, all this calls to mind the change to Jesus’ human body after his resurrection. After his resurrection Jesus certainly displayed the ability to act either naturally or supernaturally while interacting with the physical creation. Jesus’ fully human body had undergone some kind of a change that was manifested in a set of new attributes after the resurrection. Jesus could still eat, cook, touch, and be touched but after his resurrection Jesus appeared and disappeared from rooms without being described as walking in or out.

VK: But Jesus had displayed the ability to perform miracles even before his death and resurrection?

RD:  Yes, he did. But before his resurrection Jesus performed miracles, if you will, in the same way many other Biblical figures such as Moses or Elijah had performed miracles. In fact, it would be better to say that Moses or Elijah did not perform miracles but rather God performed miracles through them. Quite often the Bible reports that Moses, Elijah, or Jesus, for that matter, prayed to God before the miracle occurred. And Jesus quite clearly stated that during His earthly ministry He was just carrying out the Father’s work. In John 10:25 Jesus sais, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.” And in 10:37 he said, “Don’t believe me unless I carry out my Father’s work. But if I do his work, believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me.”

VK: So, the point is that after his resurrection Jesus displayed the same kind of relationship with the physical world that the angels seemed to have had all along. This, by the way, does not mean that somehow Jesus became an angel. Ever since the incarnation Jesus has had a dual nature. Jesus is both fully human and fully God. We probably can’t understand all that that means but the dual nature of Christ is a truth that the Bible clearly teaches. And before His death and resurrection, Jesus’ human body was fully human. Jesus got hungry and tired. He slept and cried. He ate food, touched people, and fully identified with His followers. 

RD:  Yes. And even though most human beings will never perform miracles there have been other human beings, besides Jesus, who did – including by the way participating in the resuscitation of dead bodies. Elijah and the Apostle Paul both helped revived people who had died. Jesus was, of course, the most prolific miracle worker of all time, but before his death the manner in which Jesus performed his miracles was consistent with the way other prophets had performed miracles. But after his death, as you noted, Jesus’ relationship with the physical creation appears to have become more like that which the angels enjoyed all along.

VK: So, the major point is that angels are ordinarily creatures who inhabit the unseen realm but on occasion the angels can cross the boundary that separates the realms of the seen and unseen. But holy angels only cross that boundary at God’s express command or when they have been dispatched to carry out a task related to either salvation or God’s holy judgment. The fallen angels also have crossed that boundary but when they do it is always to inflict pain or anguish on human beings or to try to interrupt the progress of the plan of redemption.

RD:  Yes. And to me, the Bible’s very clear recognition of the fact that the created order consists of both a seen and an unseen realm is critical to us having confidence that it is God’s word.

VK: How so? I think there are a lot of people who would regard the Bible’s description of angels, demons, and supernatural phenomena as a liability rather than an asset.

RD:  I’m sure there are but I don’t. Let’s face it. We are all aware that there are some things that occur within the physical creation that defy explanation by physical factors alone. And down through history a lot of attempted explanations have been offered for this observation. I don’t want to start tossing the labels around but I think most listeners could list off a dozen or more such purported explanations for supernatural phenomena without even trying. Human awareness of the supernatural is real and if the Bible didn’t give us a clear basis upon which to frame at least a basic understanding of such phenomena we would be left at the mercy of the imaginations of men.

VK: In other words, the Bible in providing us with a clear awareness that an unseen, supernatural realm exists actually helps us from falling prey to false explanations that the world might offer. Furthermore, knowing that there are supernatural beings who would gladly deceive us if that is possible helps us be on our guard.  And while the Bible doesn’t answer all our questions, or perhaps fully satisfy our curiosity about the supernatural realm we are told enough for us to be able to remain faithful. We have enough information to be able to handle unexplained phenomena. And we have enough information to guard ourselves against unholy influences.

RD:  Right. And we’re going to discuss the fallen angels, the demons, in our next episode of Anchored by Truth. But just to be sure everyone understands while demons may influence a believer’s behavior a demon cannot occupy or take possession of a believer. The Bible is clear that “greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.” All authentic believers in Christ are indwelt by the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is not about to share His domain with demons.

VK: Well, today and last time we made the holy angels the centerpiece of the discussion. As RD just said next time we’ll turn our attention to the angels who didn’t remain faithful to God. The goal of all of this discussion is to help people see that the Bible is consistent throughout its entire text and that the Bible provides what we need to lead holy and faithful lives. The remarkable unity of the Bible is evidence of the Bible’s own supernatural point of origin. Sounds to me like a good time for a prayer. Since our kids are back in school today we want to listen to a prayer for all of those who may need a little extra help as they prepare for upcoming tests. 

---- PRAYER FOR TAKING A TEST (RANNI).

We hope you’ll be with us next time and we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show.

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 (Bible Quote from the New International Version)

Revelation, chapter 14, verses 17 and 18, New International Version

Topical Bible: Angel (biblehub.com)