Devils and Angels
by Doug Schofield
Angels are popular. Chances are that every lady present today
owns a necklace, pin, earrings or some item of jewelry in the shape of an
angel. There are TV shows, books, movies
and songs about angels. But what do we
really know about them? Actually, the
Bible tells us a lot about angels – they are mentioned more than 300 times in
the Bible. I’m convinced that a better
understanding of Angels will help bring us closer to God.
Angels are created beings – they were created by God; Col
1:16 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him”: ,
also Ps. 148:2 & 5, “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all
his hosts...For He commanded and they were created”. We are not told when God created angels, but
we understand from Job 38:7 they were present at the creation of the earth.
Angels are NOT to be worshiped; Col
2:18; Revelation 19:10. Also, Revelation 22:8-9 “And I John saw these things, and heard
them. And when I had
heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which
showed me these things. Then saith he
unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy
brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the
sayings of this book: worship God.”
Hebrews 1:4 affirms that Jesus is superior to the angels. “Being
made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more
excellent name than they.” Verse 6 “And when he again bringeth in the firstborn into the world,
he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”
They were made to be ministering spirits, rendering service; Hebrews 1:13-14
“ But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering
spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” {by they way, the footstool statement made by
God to Jesus, Ps 110:1, lets us know further that angels do not share the
divine nature of Christ.}
Hebrews 2:7 teaches that man was made “a little lower than the angels”. The angels are interested in the gospel of
Christ, 1 Peter 1:12 refers to the
gospel as things the angels desire to look into; .
According to Jesus, we do not become angels when we die, Matt 22:30 “For in the resurrection they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”. In the resurrection we will become LIKE them, equal to
them, Luke 20:36.
Angels are spirit beings, Hebrews 1:14, immortal in nature, just like your
spirit. Unlike God whose eternal nature
extends from everlasting to everlasting, Psalms 90:2; “even from everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God”. (always
was, is, and always shall be); our sprits and the angels had a definite
beginning when we were created by God, but we (our immortal souls) and the
angels will live for eternity. Luke 20:36 “Neither can they
die any more: for they are equal unto the angels…”
We are not told how many angels there are, Hebrews 12:22 mentions an
innumerable company of angles; and yet only two are named in the Bible, Gabriel
and Michael. Luke 1:19 “And the angel answering said unto him, I
am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee,
and to show thee these glad tidings.”
Jude 9, and Revelation 12:7 refer to Michael,
the archangel. Jesus said in Matt 26:53,
“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels?” I don’t believe that Jesus was here referring
to a specific number of angels, like 120 thousand, but indicating a very very
great number.
Angels are powerful. II Thess 1:7
says they are mighty. 2 Kings 19:35 “And it came to
pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of
the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand(185,000): and when
they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”
As spirit beings, angels do not have bodies, nor other human
characteristics, Mark 12:25,
“For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry,
nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.”
Angels have been given the ability to reveal themselves in human form on
occasion; note that the human form does not include wings. The only mention of wings relative to an
angel is in Isaiah chapter 6 in his vision of the throne of God, Isaiah 6:1-3 “In
the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he
covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did
fly. And one cried unto another, and
said, Holy, holy, holy,is the LORD of hosts: the whole
earth is full of his glory.”
In Exodus chapter 25 where instructions are being give for construction of
the mercy seat, decorative cherubim were to have wings; and likewise in I Kings
chapter 6, the account of Solomon’s construction of the temple at Jerusalem,
the same reference to decorative adornments.
There are more than 2-dozen accounts of angelic appearances recorded in the
bible, and it is clear that they appear as ordinary men, without wings.
Abram Genesis 18:3 Gideon Judges 6:11-24
Hagar Gen 16:7-14 Manoah Judges 13:6-21
Lot Gen 19:1-22 David II Samuel 24:16,17
Jacob Gen 28:12 Elijah I Kings 19:5-7
Moses Exodus 3:2 Daniel Daniel
6:22
Balaam Num 22:31-35 Zechariah Zech 2:1-3
Joshua Joshua 5:13-15 All
of Israel Judges 2; 1-4
Zechariah Luke 1:11-20 Peter Acts 12:7-11
Mary Luke 1:26-38 Phillip Acts 8:26
Joseph Matt 1:20-25 Cornelius Acts 10:3-32
Shepherds Luke 2:9-14 Paul Acts
27:23,24
Certain
women Matt
28:1-7 John Rev 1:1
Mary
Magdalene John 20:12-13 the apostles Acts 1:10-11
…and there are others.
Let’s look at the details of some of those appearances: Genesis 18:2-5 “And he (Abram) lift up his eyes
and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to
meet them from the tent door, (a customary form of greeting strangers and
guests at that time and place), and bowed himself toward the ground, And
said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray
thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash
your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: And I will fetch a morsel of
bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore
are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as
thou hast said.”
The angels that visited Lot in Genesis chapter 19
were certainly no different in appearance than ordinary men of the day, to the
extent that the sinful men of Sodom
lusted after them. Lot
washed their feet; made them a feast and they ate food.
Joshua 5:13-14 “And it came
to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked,
and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand:
and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our
adversaries? And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come.”
Daniel 10:18 “Then
there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he
strengthened me,”
The last recorded account of an angel’s appearing is in Acts 27:23-25. Paul was on his way to Rome
and the ship was caught in a raging storm.
In reassuring the crew of the ship, Paul said “For there stood by me
this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,”. What a
wonderful statement that should describe our relationship with God.
There is nothing to indicate that angels make such appearances today. More than 50 years passed between the event
in Acts 27 and the writing of the last book of the New Testament with no other
mention of angelic appearances, (except to John the revelator). The emphasis is on Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. It is Jesus whom we are to worship
and serve; Him whom we are to glorify.
However, I believe that the Bible teaches the concept of
Guardian Angels. Here’s why: Jesus said
in Matthew 18:10 “See that you do
not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you
that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.”
We know that angels ministered to Jesus after His temptation
in the wilderness, Matt 4:11. They
encouraged the apostles, Acts 5:19-20,
and gave assurance to Paul, Acts 27:23-25.
The scriptures seem to indicate that the early Christians believed in
guardian angels, Acts 12:13-15 “And
as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named
Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice,
she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood
before the gate. And they said unto her,
Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It
is his angel.”
And in Psalms 34:7 we read, “The angel of the LORD encampeth
round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” In Daniel 6:22
we read the account of an angel shutting the mouths of the lions to protect
Daniel.
Psalms 91:11 “For he shall give his angels
charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Hebrews 13:2 “Be
not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels
unawares.”
And what of their work today? Angels serve God in a number of ways. An angel released Peter from prison, Acts 12:7-10. Angels destroyed King Herod because he failed to give God glory, Acts 12:23. They bear the souls of departed faithful, Luke 16:22 “And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom:” They minister to the saved Hebrews 1:14 “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?”
“Great as the privileges of angels appear to be, it would seem that there are two prerogatives not given them. It is not recorded that any of them ever preached the gospel, nor is it indicated that they have the power to reproduce themselves. Worshiping of the angels is forbidden (Colossians 1:18); and they have no mediatorial function between God and man, that position being reserved to Christ alone (1Timothy 2:5).” - Burton Coffman
Angels preserve for us the Bible – Revelation chapter 10 – the little book mentioned in verse 2 is no doubt the New Testament. Even in the face of the medieval dark ages, when it was against the law, under threat of death, for anyone to possess a copy of the Bible, God’s Word was preserved. Today, there are those who twist the scriptures in so-called new translations in efforts to substantiate their false teaching. But thanks be to God for the work of faithful scholars who work tirelessly to rightly divide the Word of Truth.
Movies and television programs that feature angels usually have them acting to benefit people who have not obeyed the gospel of Christ. This contradicts Scripture, Heb 1:14 states that they minister to those who are heirs of salvation, and 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”
By the way, what does it mean to obey the gospel? What is the gospel? That God loved us and sent Jesus to die for us, John 3:16, and we must believe that. The gospel requires that we confess our faith in Him before men, Matthew 10:32 “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.” ; That we must repent of sin, Luke 13:3 “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”; and the gospel requires that we be baptized in water, Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; and Acts 22:16, “..and why tarriest thou, arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins…” That’s what it means to obey the gospel – what it takes to be in covenant relationship with God and be entitled to enjoy the blessings He provides both in this life and in the life to come.
The work of angels is certainly not complete. The Bible tells us that they will be present at the second coming, II Thess 1:7. Jesus will confess before the angels those who confess Him before men, Luke 12:8,9. Angels will participate in the final judgment; Matthew 13:41-42 “The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”
Also verses 49 and 50.
God does not use angels to deliver messages today, as He did
in olden times. Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last
days spoken unto us by his Son,” Jesus promised the Apostles that after His
ascension the Holy Spirit would come and guide them; John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy
Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all
things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.” And by inspiration of the Holy
Sprit, they wrote for us the New Testament, II Tim 3:16. We have the complete Word of God now in our
hands. There is no need for
extra-biblical messengers today.
Paul wrote to the Galatians “But though we, or an
angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed,” 1:8.
If, just for the sake of discussion, an angel were to appear
to someone today and deliver a message, I can tell you of a certainty exactly
what the nature of that message would be.
It would be in complete, perfect, total harmony with the written Word of
God as revealed in the New Testament. It
would not in any way conflict, contradict nor differ from the word once
delivered, Jude verse 3. We know that we
have all the messages we need from God to obtain our salvation. 2 Peter
1:3 “According as his divine power
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”
Of this you may be certain, that if anyone should claim to
have received a message from an angel, and that message is not in complete
harmony with what you can read in the Bible, that angel is of the devil! Yes, the devil has angels, Matt. 25:41. In fact, Satan himself is a fallen
angel. We read a description of his fall
in Ezekiel 28:12-18, and Revelation 12:4, also verses 7-9. Jesus witnessed the casting out of satin,
Luke 10:18, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” 2 Peter 2:4 “For if God spared not the
angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains
of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;”
Satan and his angels were cast out of heaven some time prior
to the events in Genesis chapter 3 – perhaps even before creation. We don’t know exactly when, but we do know
that it was prior to the garden events.
Job 1:6
“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present
themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. 7 And the
LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and
said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from
walking up and down in it.” Some
have thought that since this passage refers to the sons of God having come to
present themselves before the Lord that the scene took
place in Heaven. Not so. The event described here took place on earth,
not in heaven – for Satan had been cast out of heaven, and no evil can enter
there. (That’s why we need a
savior). The occasion revealed here must
be an assembly of God’s people, and Satan was among
them. God is able to see and hear and
know everything that goes on - even here today.
We are ‘sons of God’, Romans 8:14,
"As many as are led by the
Spirit of God, these are the sons of God".
Also, Hebrews 12:7,8 speaks of all Christians
on earth as "sons" of God.
Today, in this place, we, the sons of God have presented ourselves before Him, and you may be sure that Satan is here
too. He is constantly trying to distract
your attention from God’s word, making your leg cramp, your back hurt, filling
your mind with worldly thoughts of what you’re going to do this afternoon or
tomorrow.
We are at war with Satan. His purpose
is to prevent the return of our spirits to God who gave them. Ecclesiastes
12:7. It is the devil’s only way to
strike against God. Ephesians 6:11-12 “Put
on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this
world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Think about it, the devil doesn’t need to go
after sinners, he already has them – besides, there is
no satisfaction for him in those already in his grasp. His delight is in snatching souls away from God. 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
During the first century Satan’s angels (demons) were permitted to enter
into people so that the authority of Jesus could be demonstrated in casting
them out, and for a statement of His identity.
They knew Jesus; after all, they had been with him in Heaven before
they were banished from the presence of God. Their testimony to the deity of Jesus is
indeed most credible. Here’s what they
had to say as He cast them out of people:
Mark 1:24 “…Saying,
Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art,
the Holy One of God.” Mark 5:7 “…And cried with a loud voice, and
said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I
adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”
They know their eventual doom too,
Matthew 8:29 And,
behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son
of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the
time?” James 2:19 tells us that the devils believe and
tremble. Jesus demonstrated his
authority over Satan in casting out his demons, and in the fact that His
disciples were able to do so as well. (Luke chapter 10).
People are not possessed by demons today.
Satan is bound – that is, limited in the power that God allows him to
exert. Revelation 20:2 “And he laid
hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound
him a thousand years…” meaning these last days. In Matthew 12:29 Jesus said, “Or else how can one
enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind
the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.” Referring to His casting out of demons, and His triumph over Satan in arising from the
dead.
Satan and his demons will be destroyed forever, Revelation 20:10, “And
the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone,
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night
for ever and ever.”
Demons
are among us today, (but they cannot possess us against our will). Their work is described in I Timothy 4: 1-2 “
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times [the age in
which we are living] some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having
their conscience seared with a hot iron;…”
He attempts to deceive those who would believe, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 “But
if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of
this world, (Satan), hath blinded the minds of them which believe
not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God,
should shine unto them.”
Beloved, if you are not a Christian, and you’re not really all that
interested in becoming one, this passage should strike fear in your heart. Satan may have blinded you to the light of
the gospel to keep you from believing – to prevent you from obeying – to snatch
your soul into the depths of hell with him and his angels…Matt 25:41, Again, Matthew
13:19 “When any one heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and
catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” Luke 8:12,
“… then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their
hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.”
Paul warned the Corinthians about false teachers in 2 Corinthians 11:13-14 “For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of light.”
When you see some of these television charlatans prancing and boasting
can’t you just see Satan himself working to gather in gullible souls and prevent
them from hearing the true gospel?
Satan works against Christians too; in fact, I believe that is where
he puts the majority of his effort. Paul
wrote to the church at Thessalonica of his desire to visit them, but said “…Satan
hindered us.” I Thess 2:18. Now realize that the apostle Paul had the
benefit of divine inspiration – I’m sure he’d know if it were Satan who had
hindered him. Consider Acts 5:3, Peter
asked Ananias “…why hath Satan filed thy heart to lie…?” Satan goes after us with all his powers. Paul said in II Corinthians 2:11, “…for we are not ignorant of his
devices.”
Here’s a scary thought, the devil’s angels know you by name. In Acts chapter 19 a demon spoke to some
false Jewish leaders who attempted to cast him out “in the name of Jesus whom
Paul preaches”. Then verse 15, “And the evil
spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” They certainly knew who Paul was, and their
question to the deceitful Jews had not to do with their identity, but with
their authority.
But God will protect us if we look to Him.
Revelation 3:10 – 11 Jesus said “Because thou
hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of
temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold
that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above
that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that
ye may be able to bear it.”
2 Peter 2:9 “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of
temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of
judgment to be punished:”
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is
passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our
profession. For we have not an high
priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne
of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to
help in time of need.”
God has provided for our salvation – a plan He made before creation; a plan he unfolded for mankind over 4,000 years of promise, prophecy, and preparation. Angels do not have the power to save us. It is our individual responsibility to obey the gospel of Christ. When we do so, the angels of heaven rejoice. Luke 15:1 "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth."
Do not allow Satan to take away the seed of God’s word from your heart, but receive it, believe it. Confess that faith before men and be baptized into Christ even this very day.
If you are a child of God, then remember that Satan loves darkness; he cannot stand the light of God’s word. 1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” If you’ve been out of the light, come back now and live in victory over Satan.