Angels: Lesson 2

Overview

Angels: Created Servants with a Divine Mission

Angels are created beings—spirits made by God, not glorified humans, and not the cherubic figures of Christmas pageants and popular imagination. When they appear to people in Scripture, their first words are almost always "fear not," which tells us something important: their true presence is awe-inspiring, even terrifying. Although Scripture mentions angels nearly 300 times, what we don't know about them far exceeds what we do. That's intentional. God reveals what we need; speculation beyond Scripture leads us into rabbit holes He never invited us to explore. (A note worth clearing up: when believers die, they do not become angels. Their souls go immediately to be with Christ—and since the angels are also in the heavenly realms with Christ, it is fair to say a departed loved one is now "with Christ and the angels.")

The word "angel" in both Greek (angelos) and Hebrew (malak) means messenger—a job description, not a physical description. Hebrews 1:14 defines their purpose plainly: "Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" Every angel exists to serve God and His church. This humbles any thought that we might command them; rather, we marvel that such powerful creatures are sent on errands of grace for God's people.

Scripture shows angels carrying out this service in several ways. They announce divine messages, as when the angel proclaimed the Savior's birth to the shepherds in Luke 2:8-14. They minister and care, as when angels attended to Jesus after His temptation in the wilderness Matthew 4:1-11. They rescue and guard, as when an angel led Peter out of Herod's prison in Acts 12:6-11. But not every divine message is warm and gentle. Angels are also bearers of God's judgment: a "company of destroying angels" in Psalm 78:49; the two angels sent to destroy Sodom in Genesis 19; the seven angels with bowls of God's wrath in Revelation 15:5-8; and the mighty angel of Revelation 10, wrapped in cloud, his face like the sun and legs like pillars of fire. Angels are not God, but they are powerful, and they are sent with very specific purposes.

Martin Luther helpfully described an angel as "a spiritual creature created by God without a body for the service of Christendom and of the church." He also insisted that "the acknowledgment of angels is needful in the church"—we should neither deny their existence nor place our faith and trust in them. We do not pray to angels. They are fellow creatures, not objects of worship. Yet Luther noted the convicting beauty of their ministry: these pure and perfect creatures humbly perform services for "poor wretched people" that we ourselves would often be ashamed to do for one another. The takeaway for us is twofold. First, rest in the truth that God commissions His angelic servants for the good of those who inherit salvation—you are not alone, and nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus Romans 8:38-39. Second, let their humble obedience hold up a mirror to our own service. If mighty spirits gladly carry out the smallest tasks at God's command, how much more should we, who have been claimed by Christ, serve one another with joy.

Transcript

Thank you so much. 7s

We thank you for your grace. 9s

We thank you for this day. 10s

We thank you for the good news that we are saved by grace through faith and it is not our own doing. 12s

Lord, we thank you that you created angels. 19s

And we thank you that the little bit that we get to know, we do get to know. 22s

And we ask that you would use this time of study to draw us closer to you and to rejoice, 28s

knowing that we are claimed as yours and that nothing can separate us from the love of God that we have in Christ Jesus. 35s

Lord, we lift this to you in that blessed name, Jesus Christ. 44s

Okay, so little bit of a recap since we haven't had Sunday School for a couple of weeks. 49s

So, angels, angels, angels, angels, angels, angels. 57s

They are created beings. 62s

They are created creatures. 65s

They are not what movies and TV and even our wonderful Christmas pageant, 68s

and that is all, that is all lovely, but we know that when the angels come to people, 76s

the first thing they say is fear not. 86s

Fear not. 88s

That is if they don't want the people to be scared. 89s

So, angels are a specific type or species. 94s

Charibum and Seraphim are also heavenly creatures, but it is not dated specifically in Scripture 97s

that they are a type of angel. 104s

And so, while much of the information that we can gather does refer to Charibum and Seraphim as angels, 107s

because Scripture does not directly say and classify them as angels. 116s

I'm very hesitant to claim that, and Jellik status or in Jellik type for Charibum and Seraphim. 122s

And we do know that they are heavenly creatures. 134s

We know that they serve the Lord, but I don't want to define them as angels. 137s

Very little detail is given in Scripture about angels. 146s

They are mentioned almost 300 times, 282 times. 151s

We read and hear of angels in Scripture from Old Testament, New Testament, throughout Scripture, 155s

or 280 times, 282 times, but we don't know a lot. 162s

This has been such an interesting study to study about, because there is so much that we don't know. 169s

We know that angels exist. 179s

We know that they are. 183s

We know that God has a specific intention and purpose for his angelic creatures, 185s

but what we don't know about angels far exceeds what we do know. 196s

And we ask the question, well, why? Why don't we know more? 202s

Well, the answer is because. 208s

Because God, he doesn't want us to know more than what he gives us. 211s

And so, so this is where, you know, where we find that we don't go down, 218s

rabbit, holes or rabbit trails that we don't belong going down. 224s

Someone brought up a really good question after our first class. 229s

They, because we had talked about how, when we die, we do not become angels. 234s

That is a myth. That is not true. 239s

So, so someone brought up a good question. 245s

Is it okay to say, they, that is the person that died, they went to be with the angel? 247s

And I thought that was a really good question and a fair question. 254s

And, and I would say yes. 257s

You might want to say yes, ish, just making sure that that clarification is that they are not an angel, 259s

but, but yes, because we know that the angels are in the heavenly realms. 266s

We know that angels are in the heavenly realms. 273s

And we know that when we die, our souls, our consciousness is in the presence of Jesus. 276s

When we die, that is that partying of body and soul. 284s

Our soul is immediately in the presence of Jesus, 288s

in paradise with Christ. So, if the angels are with Christ, in the heavenly realms, 292s

and our souls are with Christ, then when one dies, he or she has gone to be with Christ and the angels. 298s

So, I thought that was a really good question. 306s

Okay, so that is an overall recap of what we have touched on until now. 309s

So, we are going to move into the purpose of angels and their mission. 316s

So, let's go ahead and open up to the book of Hebrews. 321s

This is in the New Testament. It's right after all of Paul's letters. 325s

So, you're going to go past the Gospels, past the book of Acts, past Paul's letters. 332s

And you're going to find yourself at Hebrews. 336s

We're going to go to Hebrews chapter 1, 338s

looking at verse 14. 344s

Hebrews chapter 1, verse 14, 349s

where we read, are not all angels spirits in the divine service, 355s

sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. 360s

So, the purpose of angels is, of all angels, 365s

is to serve God and His church. 369s

It's very interesting reading. 372s

And there were some people that were writing about this verse, 375s

and really claiming this sort of arrogant, 380s

the angels are here to serve me. 385s

And it was very, very interesting because that again brings to mind 387s

that whole thing of the angels saying fear not. 391s

And if it's a being that strikes fear, 395s

are you going to be arrogant with saying serve me? 399s

No, not really. 403s

But the mission and purpose of every angel is to serve God 405s

and His church. 409s

All angels are in divine service, 413s

sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. 417s

That is those that are in the church. 422s

Now notice this lack of body, 426s

but it says that angels are spirits. 429s

There's spirits. 432s

We know that they take on forms as we'll read in a little bit. 434s

They do take on human form or other form. 439s

But this is one of those rabbit holes that we're not going to go after, 444s

because there's so much speculation 450s

that that can get brought up or pop into our mind. 452s

And there's a difference between creative licensing 457s

and just downright wrong. 460s

So we don't want to veer into wrong. 464s

Angel in Greek is Anglos. 470s

And in Hebrew is Malak. 474s

I don't know if I pronounce Hebrew correctly. 476s

We're going to say I do. 479s

So Angel in both Greek and Hebrew really means messenger 480s

or to bring tithings, to bring tithings. 485s

In both cases the word angel really is 491s

depicting a job description. 496s

And it's not a visual description. 500s

So it is the angel's role, the angelic role 504s

to deliver a divine message. 508s

Let's go ahead and look at an example of this. 515s

Go to the Gospel of Luke. 518s

So you're still in the New Testament. 519s

You're going to go backwards to the Gospels. 521s

The Gospel of Luke. 524s

And this will probably be a familiar reading. 525s

Luke chapter 2 beginning in the 8th verse. 531s

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields 538s

keeping watch over their flock by night. 541s

Then an angel of the Lord stood before them 545s

and the glory of the Lord shown around them 547s

and they were terrified. 551s

But the angel said to them, 554s

do not be afraid. 556s

For see, I am bringing you good news of great joy 558s

for all the people. 562s

To you is born this day in the city of David, 564s

a Savior who is the Messiah of the Lord. 567s

This will be a sign for you. 569s

You will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth 572s

and lying in a manger. 574s

And suddenly there was with the angel, 576s

a multitude of the heavenly host, 578s

praising God and saying, 581s

glory to God in the highest heaven 582s

and on earth peace among those whom he favors. 583s

So we see that the angels role here 587s

is to be the messenger, the bearer of glad tidings, 590s

that they are announcing the birth of Christ to these shepherds. 595s

So they have a very heavenly purpose, 599s

a distinct purpose, as messengers 602s

sent with a divine message. 605s

Their job also in an angel's job is also at times 609s

to be a ministering, that they minister. 614s

So if we look in, if we go backwards to the gospel of Matthew, 617s

this is the first gospel. 622s

It's in the very first book of the New Testament. 624s

So Matthew chapter four, beginning at, 629s

we're going to read a couple of verses here, 633s

beginning in the first verse, 635s

Matthew chapter four, beginning in the first verse. 637s

So this is when Jesus, well, we'll just read it here. 641s

Then Jesus was led up by the spirit into the wilderness 644s

to be tempted by the devil. 647s

He fasted 40 days and 40 nights and afterwards, 649s

afterwards he was famished. 652s

So Jesus was driven into the wilderness. 655s

He's been fasting for 40 days, 40 nights. 658s

He's famished. 662s

As fully man, he feels hunger. 664s

He feels hunger. 669s

So then looking at the beginning of chapter, 671s

verse three, the temperature came and said to him, 673s

if you are the son of God, 678s

command these stones to become lobes of bread. 679s

So here the devil comes to tempt him. 682s

Then jumping down to verse five, 684s

then the devil took him to the holy city 687s

and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 689s

saying to him, if you are the son of God, 691s

throw yourself down. 693s

Jumping down to verse eight. 696s

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain 698s

and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 701s

And he said to him, all these, 704s

I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. 706s

Jesus said to him, away with you Satan for it is written. 709s

Worship the Lord your God and serve only him. 713s

Then the devil left him and suddenly, 716s

angels came and waited on him. 719s

So Jesus, fully God, fully man, 722s

is famished. 726s

He's hungry. 727s

The temperature comes and tempts him. 727s

Mind body power, like he tempts him in all ways. 731s

Jesus withstands that. 737s

And then the angels come and they minister to him. 740s

They care for him. 743s

So we see the angels serving in a ministerial role. 745s

Let's go over to Acts. 748s

So you're going past the gospels. 750s

To that first book past the gospels. 752s

The book of Acts. 754s

This is, we're going to go to Acts chapter 12. 755s

Acts chapter 12 beginning in verse 6. 760s

So this is where James, James has been killed. 767s

The apostle James has been killed. 771s

Peter has been arrested. 773s

We pick up in six. 777s

The very night before Herod was going to bring him out. 779s

Peter bound with two chains was sleeping between two soldiers. 782s

While guards in front of the doors, 785s

we're keeping watch over the prison. 788s

Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared and a light 790s

shown in the cell. 792s

He tapped Peter on the side and woke him, saying, 794s

Get up quickly. 796s

And the chains fell off his wrists. 797s

The angel said to him, fasten your belt and put on your 799s

sandals. 802s

He did so. 803s

Then he said to him, 804s

wrap your cloak around you and follow me. 805s

Peter went out and followed him. 807s

He did not realize that what was happening with 809s

the angel's help was real. 812s

He thought he was seeing a vision. 814s

After they had passed the first and the second guard, 816s

they came before the iron gate leading into the city. 820s

It opened for them of its own accord and they went outside 822s

and walked along a lane when suddenly the angel left him. 825s

Then Peter came to himself and said, 829s

Now I am sure the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me 831s

from the hands of Herod and from all that the Jewish people 835s

were expecting. 838s

So here we see the angel assisting 841s

ministering and leading Peter out. 845s

So he is really guarding him, 850s

making sure that he can escape a faded doom 852s

of being killed by Herod as James had been. 856s

They are, as we've talked about, 861s

they are bearers of divine messages. 863s

They are bearers, they bring 868s

their hands to the church and they are 870s

fighting from God. 870s

They bear the message that is brought from God to his people. 872s

Now he definitely used his prophets for this. 877s

But there are times in Scripture where we see the angel 880s

speaking to the prophets to share a word. 883s

So he used angels. 889s

He used prophets. 890s

He used angels to deliver his message. 891s

And the thing that I think is interesting is that 894s

not all of the angels' messages, 898s

not all of the divine messages that were delivered 902s

are warm and fuzzy. 905s

We think about that sweet deliverance 907s

to the shepherds of the angel saying that the Christ child is born 910s

and you will find him in swaddling cloth 914s

and that just gives us all sorts of warms. 918s

We love that story. 921s

We love that message from the angels. 923s

But the angels are also brought 928s

their brought to bring the message of judgment 931s

and wrath from God. 937s

So we are going to look at a few of these examples. 940s

It just seems like a weird way to start the year, 945s

but that's what we are doing. 948s

Okay, sorry. 949s

So let's go to Psalm 78 first. 952s

This is in the middle of your Bible, Psalm 78. 955s

And we're going to look at verse 49. 965s

So this is Psalm 78. 969s

It's really that how God has served His people, 972s

how His people have been obstinate, 978s

they've rejected Him, 982s

and it's talking about what God has done. 984s

And so looking at verse 49, 989s

He let loose on them his fierce anger, 992s

wrath, indignation, and distress, 995s

a company of destroying angels. 997s

In this he's speaking of the angels are destroying Egypt. 1000s

So he's talking about the wrath that God poured out 1005s

and his protectiveness over Israel. 1009s

But it says that he used a company of destroying angels. 1012s

We don't generally combine destroying 1019s

and angels together in our minds. 1022s

We get stuck with that little cherub looking baby. 1026s

And we don't think of the destroyer, 1031s

but there was a company of destroying angels. 1033s

Let's go to Genesis chapter 19. 1036s

Genesis chapter 19. 1039s

This is the first book in the Bible. 1042s

Looking first at verse 1. 1050s

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, 1055s

and lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. 1058s

When lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bow down 1060s

with his face to the ground. 1063s

So two angels have been sent and they come to Sodom. 1065s

Let's move down to verse 10. 1069s

To just a where is it? 1075s

But the men inside, so, okay, so I think we all know the story of Sodom in Gamora, 1076s

more or less. 1082s

Sodom in Gamora were sinful in all of their ways, 1084s

and God is going to destroy it. 1088s

And He sends two angels. 1092s

They come to Lot. 1094s

This is Abraham's nephew. 1095s

They come to Lot's home and Lot says, 1097s

You need to stay with me the night. 1101s

They said, well, we'll stay in the square. 1102s

And He said, no, no, no, you need to come in 1104s

because the men are not safe here. 1106s

So, looking at verse 10, but the men inside reached out. 1110s

So, the men of the town are trying to break down the door, 1114s

where of Lot's house, the men that's the angels inside reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 1117s

And they struck with blindness. 1127s

The men who were at the door of the house, both small and great, 1129s

so that they were unable to find the door. 1132s

So, we see, oh, continuing on. 1135s

Then the men said to Lot, have you anyone else here? 1137s

Sons and Law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, 1140s

bring them out of the place. 1143s

For we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy it. 1145s

So, these, again, are angels with a specific purpose, specific message. 1156s

They are bringing the divine message that God's wrath and judgment are coming upon Sodom. 1161s

And so, they are sent then to execute God's wrath and judgment. 1169s

So, they deliver the message and then they follow through and execute the wrath of God on Sodom and Gomorrah. 1175s

Let's go over to Revelation 15. 1185s

Revelation chapter 15. 1189s

Beginning at verse 6. 1194s

We're going to read 6 through 8. 1197s

Let's go to 5, actually. 1202s

5 through 8. 1204s

After this, I looked, so this is when John is in, he's having his vision and he's in the throne room. 1205s

After this, I looked in the temple of the tent of witness in heaven, was opened. 1213s

And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues robed in pure bright linen, 1218s

with golden sashes across their chests. 1224s

Then one of the four living creatures gave the seven angels, seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God who lives forever and ever. 1227s

And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and from his power. 1234s

And no one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were ended. 1239s

Again, we don't know what these seven angels look like, necessarily, but we know that they have a purpose that they have the seven plagues of God that they have. 1244s

They have the bowls of God's wrath that they are going to pour out. 1254s

Again, not warm and fuzzy. 1260s

Let's go over to Revelation 10. 1263s

So we're still in Revelation just, back a couple of chapters. 1265s

And we're going to read the whole of chapter 10. 1271s

But listen, and if you want, you can read along or you can close your eyes and listen, listen to the description that is given of this angel. 1275s

And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head. 1283s

His face was like the sun and his legs like pillars of fire. 1290s

He held a little scroll open in his hand, setting his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 1294s

He gave a great shout like a lion roaring. 1301s

And when he shouted with the seven thunders sounded and when the seven thunders had sounded, I was about to write. 1304s

But I heard a voice from heaven saying, seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down. 1310s

Then the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and the land, raised his right hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, 1317s

who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it. 1325s

And the sea and what is in it. 1329s

There will be no more delay. 1331s

But in the days when the seventh angel is to blow his trumpet, the mystery of God will be fulfilled, 1333s

as he announced to his servants the prophets. 1338s

Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again saying, go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land. 1342s

So I went to the angel and told him to give me this little scroll and he said to me, take it and eat. 1352s

It will be bitter to your stomach but sweet as honey in your mouth. 1359s

So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. 1363s

It was sweet as honey in my mouth but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 1366s

Then they said to me, you must prophesy again about many people's and nations and languages and kings. 1371s

So here we have this angel and it's hard to wrap, at least for me it's hard to wrap my brain around what this looks like. 1378s

It sounds mighty, it sounds big, it sounds a scary. 1390s

And this angel has the intention or has the purpose of giving to John the little scroll that he is to take and send forth. 1397s

And it's sweet to the mouth but bitter in the stomach. 1413s

And so this is an angel again we don't know a lot about him or it. 1416s

But we know that there is power here. The angel is not God. Angels are not God but they are powerful. There is might. 1427s

They are sent with very specific purposes from God. 1439s

So a few of Martin Luther's thoughts on angels. 1447s

So he says an angel is a spiritual creature created by God without a body for the service of Christendom and of the church. 1452s

And again I don't know exactly how this works because we know that the angels can be seen when they take on form but are they always without a body until they have a specific purpose or intent. 1462s

This is something that scripture doesn't really answer but from that first Hebrew reading that we had we know that they are spirits. 1482s

With divine divine purpose. He also said that the acknowledgment of angels is needful in the church. 1493s

I think that's really important. We talked about that in the first class we had on angels that we can't deny their existence. They are existing. 1503s

But we also can't put our faith open trust into angelic beings. There are some that would air on praying to angels. 1511s

We don't pray to angels. We're going to talk about that more when we talk about John and his reaction to the angel. 1529s

But angels are not to be prayed to. They are created beings just as we are. He also said Martin Luther also said their function which as the epistle to the Hebrew's shows is to present a mirror of humility to godly Christians in that such pure and perfect creatures as the angels do minister unto us poor wretched people. 1539s

In household and temporal policy and in religion. They are our true and trusty servants performing offices and works that one poor miserable beggar would be ashamed to do for another. 1567s

I think it's interesting how he points out that these are creatures. These are beings that have a special appointment special abilities and yet they are called to serve. 1579s

And they serve humbly. They serve the Lord without question. We're going to talk about the angels that questioned next week. 1596s

But they serve and they serve divinely how you and I find a lot of difficulty in serving. I like how he says that they perform offices and works that one poor miserable beggar or sinner like us would be ashamed to do. 1607s

So angels serve in ways that we are not necessarily willing or wanting to serve and they serve with ability and power that we don't have. 1630s

And we'll never have because we will never be angels. I hope that's clear. 1646s

So next week we're going to talk about what bad angels do. We're going to talk about the good angels their purposes and we're going to talk about guardian angels. 1655s

And I think that's everything for next week. Okay. So again, if you have any questions or thoughts. 1670s

Talk to me, email me. I do like I do like to hear. You know, if you have any questions and sometimes especially with things like angels with things that we just don't know a lot about sometimes the answer will be. 1680s

And we don't know. So okay. Thank you happy new year and I'll see you next week or in this next service. 1696s