Tagged: angels
The Ministry of Holy Angels
This is the third in a brief series of posts on angels.
Most of the work of holy angels is performed in heaven, where angels minister to God with praise and worship (Ps. 148:2; Rev. 5:11-12). At the same time, angels carry out important duties on earth. In Angels Dark and Light, Gary Kinnaman says this earthly ministry falls into at least eight broad categories.
Angels are messengers
Angels deliver good news, such as the birth of Christ (Luke 2:9-14). They bring prophetic messages, such as the unlikely birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25). Angels also bring commendation and condemnation, as in the messages to the seven churches in Asia Minor (Revelation 2-3). “Herald angels” announce spectacular and significant events, like the resurrection of Christ (Matt. 28:5-7) and the resurrection of the just (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Last, angels provide instruction and direction (Matt. 2:13).
Continue reading
A Brief Introduction to Angels
The Bible provides specific references to angels in 34 of its 66 books, and the word “angel” appears nearly 300 times in Scripture. The Bible classifies angels as either good (“elect” or “holy”) or evil. Good angels worship God and serve him faithfully. Evil angels include Satan and demons, who oppose God and his servants.
In Angels Elect & Evil, C. Fred Dickason writes, “These two armies engage in a great warfare that exceeds human thought and affects the course of nations and the world.”
This brief study of angels focuses, not on subjective human experience or the popular media, but on the Word of God — the only truly reliable source of information on angels and demons.
Continue reading
The Testimony of Angels
This is the 10th in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at Amazon.com.
Angels proclaim the return of Jesus in at least two New Testament passages. In the first, “two men in white clothes” tell the apostles Christ’s return is to be a mirror image of his ascension, which they have just witnessed. In the second, an angel flies high overhead, announcing to the earth’s inhabitants that God’s hour of judgment has come.
Acts 1:10-11 – While he was going, they were gazing into heaven, and suddenly two men in white clothes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up into heaven? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come in the same way that you have seen him going into heaven.”
Jesus has instructed his apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they receive the Father’s promise of the Holy Spirit. Thus empowered, they are to be Christ’s witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Then, Jesus ascends into heaven with a cloud taking him out of their sight (Acts 1:4-9).
In the apostles’ minds, this may harken back to the ascension of Elijah in 2 Kings 2. After the prophet’s dramatic exit in a whirlwind, accompanied by blazing horses and a chariot of fire, Elisha receives a double portion of Elijah’s spirit to carry on the prophetic ministry.
Continue reading
Cherubim and seraphim
Following is another in a series of excerpts from What Every Christian Should Know About the Angel of the LORD, released by High Street Press.
In Scripture, we encounter two peculiar types of heavenly creatures who look nothing like angels. That’s because cherubim and seraphim are never called angels in the Bible. They do not deliver messages or appear in human likeness. Yet cherubim and seraphim share certain features and carry out the same function: to guard the presence of God. This sometimes brings them into contact with people, but they are never sent to people.
In a sense, cherubim and seraphim are hybrid figures. That is, they possess human attributes as well as animal features. We find such beings in the Ancient Near East, especially as creatures who represent power or prevent evil. So, cherubim and seraphim are welcome protectors of those they’ve come to guard. At the same time, they are terrifying creatures to trespassers.
Note some distinguishing characteristics of these heavenly creatures:
First, cherubim and seraphim are said to have wings, though the number of wings varies (Exod. 25:20; 37:9; Isa. 6:2).
Continue reading
Jesus Before Bethlehem
High Street Press offers a unique resource for personal or group study titled Jesus Before Bethlehem: What Every Christian Should Know About the Angel of the LORD.
Written by Rob Phillips of the Missouri Baptist Convention, the 338-page book explores dozens of Old Testament appearances by a figure often identified as “the angel of the LORD.” This figure not only speaks for God; he speaks as God. He appears as a man, a voice from heaven, a flame within a thorn bush, and a divine presence in a pillar of cloud and fire – all of which come to us as Christophanies, or appearances of Jesus before Bethlehem.
The book addresses the question: What was Jesus doing prior to his conception in Mary’s womb? While we see the Father and the Holy Spirit actively engaged in human affairs across the pages of the Old Testament, the other member of the Trinity (Jesus) is foreshadowed in messianic prophecies but otherwise absent from the earth. Or is he?
Jesus Before Bethlehem is designed to show how the eternal Son of God has always taken a personal interest in those he created to be his imagers on earth.
OnceDelivered.net 