Yesterday, I introduced this brief look into angels. Angels played a rather significant role in announcing the conception and birth of Jesus, and are familiar figures this time of year. So many children's programs have angels walking around with their little white wings, white robes, and golden halos, and over the years, so much has been made about angels. But how much of that is accurate from the Bible? That's what we're looking at.
Yesterday, I shared that the word angel is the word for "messenger" in both Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible. In some instances, this word is used to describe a visitor who brings a message from God. When we read through the story of Jesus in Luke chapters 1 and 2, we see several angelic beings who bring very specific messages to God's people. In an Old Testament story, in Judges chapter 6, we have Gideon having an encounter with an angel, who brings a message specifically for him.
That is the thing with angels: they appear when a message needs to be delivered from God to His people. We find this with the resurrection of Jesus, where the angels are found at the tomb to let the women know that Jesus had risen from the dead. In fact, in almost every occasion where an angel makes an appearance in the Bible, some kind of message is being sent from God to the person to whom the angel appears.
As a last thought, over the years I have heard stories of angels appearing to people and doing things in their lives. While I will acknowledge that God can send His angels to do things other than deliver messages (and for that reason will not tell someone flat out that angels don't do that), I also try to stress that when angels appear, they usually are fairly frightening, and usually have a message to deliver. While God can choose to work outside of those criteria, it would seem rather unusual for Him to do so. So my word of caution is usually along the lines of: it may be what it seems to be, but remember that God has given us something that is more sure than visions of angels, and that is the word which tells us of what God wants and desires of us and for us in the Bible.
Yesterday, I shared that the word angel is the word for "messenger" in both Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible. In some instances, this word is used to describe a visitor who brings a message from God. When we read through the story of Jesus in Luke chapters 1 and 2, we see several angelic beings who bring very specific messages to God's people. In an Old Testament story, in Judges chapter 6, we have Gideon having an encounter with an angel, who brings a message specifically for him.
That is the thing with angels: they appear when a message needs to be delivered from God to His people. We find this with the resurrection of Jesus, where the angels are found at the tomb to let the women know that Jesus had risen from the dead. In fact, in almost every occasion where an angel makes an appearance in the Bible, some kind of message is being sent from God to the person to whom the angel appears.
As a last thought, over the years I have heard stories of angels appearing to people and doing things in their lives. While I will acknowledge that God can send His angels to do things other than deliver messages (and for that reason will not tell someone flat out that angels don't do that), I also try to stress that when angels appear, they usually are fairly frightening, and usually have a message to deliver. While God can choose to work outside of those criteria, it would seem rather unusual for Him to do so. So my word of caution is usually along the lines of: it may be what it seems to be, but remember that God has given us something that is more sure than visions of angels, and that is the word which tells us of what God wants and desires of us and for us in the Bible.
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