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*Angels rush in when fools can no longer tread. (1407) *He will give His angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways. (2697) (Psalms 91:11) Yes, Virginia, there are guardian angels. The Bible says so. In fact the Bible mentions angels around 300 times. Angels love us because God loves us. Angels rejoice when we are righteous and are overcome with consternation and grief when we sin. Because of this, my guardian angel looks rather strange. He’s bald. Over the years he’s pulled all his hair out. Not only do angels display emotion, but they can also eat and drink, appear and disappear, they have a free will, make music and sing, and can also take on different forms including human forms. Hebrew 13:2 says we entertain people unaware that they are angels. Angels are created beings. God created them to be His servants. The word “angel” means “messenger.” The Bible calls them oracles of God because they bring divine decisions and messages to mankind. Angels have different ranks, as in the military. There are archangels, angels, seraphim, cherubim, etc. Angels worship God and never draw attention to themselves, only to God. Angels never allow themselves to be worshipped. Angels cannot be evangelists, cannot pastor a church, or counsel Christians. That’s our job. Angels are a single entity; they are not omnipresent (capable of being everywhere at once). Angels are very powerful. One angel killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in one night, because they were going to attack Jerusalem. Two angels blinded all the men of the city of Sodom in an instant. Another angel called the “Angel of Death” killed all the first born in the Egyptian Empire at midnight whose families were not in homes with the sacrificial blood of a lamb on the door posts and lintels (tops of the doors). The Jews were warned about this night and prepared for it, so the Angel of Death would “pass over” their house. Hence the celebration of “Passover.” Because of this huge massacre, the Pharaoh finally gave in to Moses’ demands and let the Jews go. Angels are also able to transcend what we consider “laws” of nature. When three Jews, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were thrown into a raging fire to be burned to death, an angel went with them and prevented them from being hurt. After they left the fire, witnesses said their clothes didn’t even smell like smoke. Read about this in Daniel 3. Angels are very knowledgeable. Since they’ve been around since the beginning of time, they’ve been able to learn a lot. They know much more about the universe than we do. They know much more about the history of mankind than we do. They also know everything about each one of us. 1 Corinthians 4:9 says we are constantly being watched by angels. This is how “fallen angels” can fake us out and make us think we are communicating with dead people. Fallen angels are unholy angels. They love attention and worship. They are the ones who sided with Lucifer in his rebellion against God. The Bible says Lucifer (Satan) was the most beautiful created being in the universe. He was called “Star of the Morning.” His exalted status, along with his vanity and pride, caused him to covet the attention given to God. He persuaded 1/3 of the angels to follow him in a rebellion against God to conquer the universe. He lost out and was tossed out. God is so disappointed and disgusted with Satan that He won’t even deal with him. Whenever Satan needs to be knocked down a peg or two, God sends an archangel to do it. Because of Satan’s undying hatred of God, he decided to try to destroy the creatures God loved most – people. So he and some of his angels came to earth to bother us. 1 Peter 5:8 says Satan is “as a roaring lion who goes around looking for someone to devour.” He has used his powers to collapse governments, corrupt our morals, deceive us with lies, and to ruin our hard work and accomplishments. When he and his fallen angels trip us up and tempt us to sin, he then tattles to God about what we did to try to make God love us less. Ephesians 2:2 says that we (Christians) don’t fight against other people, but against Satan’s forces of evil. When Jesus became a blood sacrifice for our sins, and He triumphed over death and hell, He gave us the ability to overpower Satan and his fallen angels by just using His name. James 4:7 says that if we resist Satan in the name of Jesus, he will run away from us. Pretty cool, huh? Since Satan and his fallen angels are subject to Jesus, we have the power to exorcise fallen angels (demons) out of people in Jesus’ name. (Holy angels may not possess people.) An exorcism may take awhile, and be an exhausting experience, but just remember that Satan and his fallen angels must obey their conqueror. Catholics and Protestants differ a lot in dealing with fallen angels. The Catholic Church (Church of Rome) does a couple exorcisms a year. Protestants do probably that many exorcisms a day. I heard a Catholic clergyman say that if you come across a very powerful fallen angel, you should get away and not deal with it. I’ve never heard a Protestant say this, but I have heard many stories and have seen photographs of Protestants exorcising powerful fallen angels. It might take hours or days, and they certainly don’t enjoy it, but they know their duty and their power in Jesus’ name. Matthew 25:41c says that God built an “everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his (fallen) angels,” as punishment for all the trouble they’ve caused. The Bible says an archangel will lay hold of Satan and bind him with chains and throw him into the fire. 1 Corinthians 6:3 says that we (Christians) will judge fallen angels. Since Christians are joint heirs with Jesus, at the end of the age we will be made higher than angels, and will teach them our concept of love. An interesting thing to note is that when God became human he made Himself lower than the angels. One last thing – the Bible says that when we die, angels will carry us (not escort us- carry us!) into the presence of God. |