. – I have always had a special interest in angels; after all, my first name comes from the same Greek word that means messenger.
I’d like to think my name is appropriate because I’m a writer who constantly delivers messages through books, articles, and love lists.
Society believes in angels and what the Bible says about angels is very different. Even many Christians imagine them more like whimsical fairy tales than powerful messengers from God.
Who are the angels?
Angels are individual beings, with designated names, jobs, and classifications. Some angels have names in the Bible: Gabriel and Michael. Others are known for their location in the workplace: “the angel of the abyss” (Rev. 9:11), for example, and “the angel of the waters” (Rev. 16:5).
Angels have specific jobs or duties. Their main duty is to worship and serve God.
Some are warriors who fight in God’s army and defend God’s people. Others are guardians of children. Others are messengers. Others are escorts transporting human souls from mortal life to eternity.
Three types of angels: Angels are also classified as Cherubim, Seraphim, and Archangels.
cherubim: They’re not cute, winged babies with bows and arrows. They are special angels in charge of protecting. Two cherubim were placed in the Garden of Eden to guard the Tree of Life after Adam and Eve were cast out.
Two cherubim were depicted on top of the Ark of the Covenant to protect the holy place.
the seraphim: Seen by Isaiah in a vision, they hover over the throne of God and remind the viewer that God is holy. The word seraphim, the singular form, means to burn and reminds us to have ardent devotion to God.
The Archangels: they are probably “chief angels”, of high rank and power. The archangels named in the Bible are Michael and Lucifer. I’m sure there are other kinds of angels, and when we’re in heaven, we’ll certainly learn all about them.
The Bible frequently mentions a single angel known as the angel of the Lord. He is unique in that men who meet him generally fall to the ground to worship him and call him Lord. Who is the angel of the Lord?
1. Jesus appears as an angel to Hagar
We first meet him in Genesis 16, when Sarah treats Hagar so badly that the slave runs away.
And the angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the desert, by the spring that is on the way to Shur.
And he said to her: Hagar, servant of Sarai, where do you come from, and where are you going? And she answered: I flee before Sarai my lady.
And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand.
The angel of the Lord also said to him: I will multiply your offspring so much that they cannot be numbered because of the multitude.
Furthermore, the angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, you have conceived and will bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael, for the Lord has heard your affliction.
And he will be a fierce man; his hand will be against all, and the hand of all against him, and his brothers will dwell before all.
Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke with her: You are God who sees; because she said: Have I not also seen here the one who sees me?
Hagar meets an angel, but this angel is unlike any other. he sees the futureis holy.
In short, He is God in flesh. He is Christ before Bethlehem. In theological terms, these appearances of God in flesh in the Old Testament are known as theophaniesand the Scriptures are full of them.
2. Jesus appears as an angel to Abraham
We see it again in Genesis 22:11-12 when Abraham picks up a knife and is about to kill Isaac as a sacrifice:
At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven: “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes,” Abraham answered. “Here I am!”
“Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” Said the angel. “Don’t hurt him in any way, for now I know you really fear God. You have not hidden even your son, your only son, from me.”
You see it? Abraham was sacrificing his son to God, and the angel of the Lord said, “You have not hidden your only son from me,” speaking for God.
3. Jesus appears as an angel to Moses
In Exodus 3, Moses met the angel of the Lord:
There, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses looked at him in amazement. Although the bush was engulfed in flames, it did not burn. “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning? I must go see it.
When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called out to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
“Here I am!” replied Moses.
“Come no closer,” the Lord warned. “Take off your sandals, because you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob “When Moses heard this, he covered his face, because he was afraid to look at God (Ex. 3: 2-5, NLT).
In this passage, the angel of the Lord expressly declares that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And Moses is afraid to look at God.
So when you read about “the angel of the Lord,” you are reading about the appearance in the Old Testament of the Son of God, the second member of the Trinity.
Notice that “an angel of the Lord” could be talking about any holy angel, but “the angel of the Lord” refers to Jesus.
4. Jesus appears with God the Father
The Bible records several conversations between “the angel of the Lord” and the Lord God: they are two separate persons. Look at Zechariah 1:8-17:
I saw at night, and behold, a man riding on a chestnut horse, which was among the myrtles that were in the depths; and behind him were chestnut, overo, and white horses.
Then I said: What are these, my lord? And the angel who spoke with me said to me: I will teach you what these are.
And the man who was among the myrtles answered and said, These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to roam the earth.
And they spoke to that angel of the Lord who was among the myrtles, and said: We have traveled the earth, and behold, all the earth is at rest and still.
The angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long will you have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which you have been angry for seventy years?
And Jehovah answered good words, comforting words, to the angel that spoke with me.
After the Son of God is born in Bethlehem, lives, dies, is resurrected, and returns to heaven, he is no longer known as “the angel of the Lord,” but as Jesus the Christ. This is why references to the “angel of the Lord” are found only in the Old Testament.
By Christy Award winner Angela Hunt is a great writer who has sold nearly four million copies of her books worldwide.
Published in: – Find out daily about all the evangelical Christian news.
Post Visitors:147