Good News Press Summer 2017 Good News Press Summer 2017 | Page 6

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Angels continued from Page 3
Angels are not halo-wearing, wing-clad,
harp-players.
spirits and there are evil spirits. These
evil spirits (commonly known as demons
or devils) are actually angels that re-
Again, these images come mostly out of belled against God. Paul wrote in 2nd
artwork, some dating all the way back
Corinthians about how these “fallen”
to Greek and Roman times. But the
angels could disguise themselves as serv-
Bible makes no reference to angels
ants of righteousness. Their aim is to
wearing halos or playing harps. As for
deceive. Not every spiritual being is
wings, the Old Testament prophets Eze- friendly.
kiel and Isaiah both refer to special clas-
ses of angels (cherubim and seraphim)
that are portrayed as having wings. But Angels are servants of God.
even these seem to be simply part of a
Aside from those that are “fallen”, an-
vision and are not meant to be a literal
gels do what God wants them to do.
description of angels. Angels are spiritu-
The word “angel” literally means
al beings, and they do not have physical
“messenger”, indicating that one of
bodies.
their primary functions is to deliver
messages from God. As when an angel
told Mary that she would give birth to
So with those misconceptions out of the Jesus, or when an angel informed the
way, consider these five realities that
shepherds that Jesus had been born.
the Bible reveals about angels.
What Angels Are:
Angels are created beings.
Angels have not always existed. They
had a beginning. In Colossians chapter
one, Paul teaches that Jesus created
everything, including angels and the en-
tire the spiritual realm. And He didn’t
just create a few prototypes; He created
a massive number. Revelation 5:11 even
refers to “thousands and millions” of
angels.
Angels are invisible spirit beings.
Angels exist as spirits, invisible to the
human eye. But, every once in a while,
angels do take on physical form in order
to make their presence known. We see
examples throughout the Bible of times
when angels interacted with humanity.
Every time, they appeared as young
men. But this does not necessary imply
that angels have gender.
There were times when an angel would
take on form and the people would not
even realize they were interacting with
an angel. And at other times, the people
would be struck with a sense of terror.
So it would appear that the form they
adopt varies.
Angels may not be what they appear to
be.
In the spiritual realm, there are good
So angels are God’s servants; they do
not take orders from humanity. God
may assign them to serve or protect
people from time to time, but it’s at His
bidding.
Angels battle for God, protecting God’s
people.
The Old Testament (2 nd Kings 19) con-
tains an account of King Hezekiah cry-
ing out to God for help when the Assyri-
an army attacks. And God responds. He
sends a single angel who slays 185,000
Assyrian soldiers. That’s how powerful
angels are. They are much more fierce
than commonly thought.
Which makes the idea of a guardian
angel particularly appealing. The notion
that a person is always being protected
is compelling. But while God may peri-
odically assign an angel to a particular
person, there is no clear indication that
this assignment is permanent. Nor is it
implied that the same angel is assigned
to the same person every time.
So are angels a reality? According to the
Bible, yes. They may not fit popular con-
ceptions, but there is a host of angelic
beings hidden in a spiritual realm. They
are under the command of God Him-
self, and they are ready to serve and
battle at His discretion.
Tips/Active Summer