Angels - Lesson 4 (1-18-26)
Overview
Anchored in God, Not in the Experience
A common question among believers is how to tell the difference between sensing God's presence and sensing the presence of an angel. The honest answer is that we often cannot—and we should be careful not to need to. When we make our faith dependent on dramatic experiences, we set ourselves up to wander whenever those feelings recede. The hymn line "prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love" names the human heart accurately. Even Martin Luther observed that our prayers easily drift into grocery lists. The Christian life is not built on whether we feel a heavy hand of mercy or direction in any given moment, but on the steady truth that God is with us always and that He sends His angels to serve Him and His church.
Guardian Angels in Scripture
Scripture clearly affirms that God commissions angels to guard His people. Psalm 91:9-12 promises that God will "command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways"—a verse so weighty that Satan himself misquoted it to tempt Jesus. This is one reason we must know Scripture deeply: so we can recognize when it is being twisted, even by those who can quote it fluently. In Matthew 18:10, Jesus warns against despising "these little ones," for "in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father." Beyond this, Scripture is restrained. Does each believer have a single personal guardian angel? The Bible does not say, and where Scripture is silent we should not speculate. We can also remember Elisha's servant, whose eyes were opened to see the hosts of heaven arrayed in protection 2 Kings 6:17—a reminder that God's protection is real even when unseen.
A Warning About the Spiritual Realm
Because the unseen world is real, there is a temptation to seek access to it. Resist that temptation. Tarot, Ouija boards, Wicca, and similar practices are not neutral curiosities; they are doorways that invite evil into our lives. What God wants us to know about the spiritual realm, He reveals in His Word. Everything beyond that is not ours to pursue. Trust the Lord to disclose what we need.
The Angel of the LORD
Some Old Testament passages speak of "the angel of the LORD" (with LORD rendering the divine name Yahweh) in ways that go beyond a created messenger. These appearances are best understood as a theophany (a manifestation of God) or a Christophany (an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ). Jacob wrestles through the night with a "man" and afterward names the place Peniel, "for I have seen God face to face" Genesis 32:22-30. The angel of the LORD calls Gideon, accepts his offering with miraculous fire, and Gideon cries out that he has seen the angel of the LORD face to face Judges 6:11-22. The angel of the LORD announces Samson's birth, and his appearance is "most awe-inspiring" Judges 13. And in the fiery furnace, Nebuchadnezzar sees a fourth figure walking with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego "like a son of the gods" Daniel 3—the LORD Himself preserving His servants. Even at Abraham's tent in Genesis 18, one of the three visitors is the LORD, while the two who travel on to Sodom are angels.
What We Take Away
We know little about angels, and that is by God's design. What we do know is enough: angels exist, they serve God and His people, they cannot be numbered, and God sends them to guard us. We do not become angels when we die; rather, we are immediately in the presence of Jesus, awaiting the resurrection of the body and the eternal life of the saints in the throne room of God. As Romans 8:28 reminds us, even what is meant for harm God turns for good for those who love Him. So rest your hope not in spiritual experiences, but in the Lord Himself—who has claimed you, who is with you always, and who commands His angels concerning you.
Transcript
Heavenly Lord, we thank you for your grace. We thank you that you are the King of Kings, the Lord 6s
of Lords, the God above all. And we thank you that in your Almighty and sovereign love and wisdom, 14s
you have claimed us and called us to be your own. Lord, thank you for letting your truth, 23s
be known to us and use us this week to share the truth of your word, the truth of your love, 28s
your grace and your mercy. Lord, let this time of study be a time where we are enriched by your 36s
word and through your word and that we can grow closer to you, knowing you as the God that you 44s
are, the God that loves us. Lord, we lift this to you in the blessed and holy name of Jesus Christ, 50s
amen. So we are going to turn to a couple of questions today is the last day that we're talking 56s
about angels like officially in class, but I did have a question that got brought up a couple of 62s
questions. So one question that got brought up this morning was how do you know the difference 70s
between the presence of angels or the presence of God? And it's a great question and I don't 77s
know that the answer is going to be appreciated or liked because really that's one of those things 87s
where when we have, when we have what we assume to be an encounter with an angel, is there 95s
but this is where and I think we talked about this in our first class where if we turn our 107s
attention and our focus on an experience, then we are putting our hope faith and trust in an 112s
experience. Instead of this is the life I live and God has his hand upon me always and there are 120s
times where I feel closer drawn to God but I'm not going to base on an experience. Does that 131s
make sense? So when God is active in our lives where we are aware of his activity in our lives, 140s
great, praise the Lord. That's wonderful. But if we put our faith, hope and trust in the experience, 152s
then when we don't experience the heavy hand, whether it is a heavy hand of mercy or a heavy 161s
hand of, of, of, of anger or direction, if we don't, if we're holding out for the experience, 171s
then we're more prone to wander. Does that make sense? That's, well in that him, prone to wander 187s
I feel it, prone to leave the Lord I love. I absolutely love that verse because as much as we, 194s
and I know this is like veering away from angels, we'll come back I promise. But as much as we, 204s
with all of our intention and all of our heart and all of our want, want to follow after 211s
the Lord and seek after the Lord and live according to His word and his direction, 217s
we're prone to wander. How many of us have been in times of prayer? We're all of a sudden, 226s
our mind is kind of, and you focus back and say, oh my gosh, I was praying. Martin Luther addresses 232s
that saying that our prayers become grocery lists. And it's just the way that the human mind works. 239s
So I think that is it, is it God? Is it the presence of angels? I don't know. I don't know. 251s
But I don't know that it's important to know because God uses His angels to serve him and to serve 260s
those who believe, to serve His church. And so is it God that is, you know, having His hand upon 270s
us? Is it His angels that He has sent? I don't know, but we know that He is with us always and He 277s
sends His angels. So speaking of angels and angels that He sends for us to us, we're going to 287s
talk about guardian angels. Is there such thing as a guardian angel? Yes. So let's start with 295s
Psalms. Go to Psalms. This is the middle of your Bible. Psalm 91. Psalm 91. And this is, 304s
we're going to look, we're going to start at verse 9. Psalm 91, verse 9. 320s
Where the Psalmist writes, because you have made the Lord your refuge, the most high your dwelling 332s
place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For He will command His angels 340s
concerning you to guide you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up so that you 347s
are not seeing interesting, a couple of verses because this is also notice the verse that 359s
the devil uses to tempt Jesus, saying throw yourself down from here and have the Lord rescue you, 366s
because it is written and He uses God's own word to try to tempt Jesus. And I think it's very 375s
important for us to know God's word, to have it in our minds, in our hearts, on our lips. The more 389s
that we are engaged with God's word, the more that we know it, the more that we are familiar with it, 397s
we can recognize when it's being used improperly. We can recognize when it is not 405s
not God's word going for. There are many people who know can quote scripture to you that use it really 416s
improperly, that use it out of context, that use it for harm instead of good. We trust the Lord 430s
and we know that He is good and merciful and sovereign and Almighty and in that that even 440s
when someone has deemed for for battle or for ill, He will turn it for the good for those who love 450s
him as He promises in Romans. But it's much more helpful if we can recognize immediately 462s
when scripture is being misused so that we don't wander so that we don't get drawn off of course 470s
or off of path of God's word. So here, though He says that He will command His angels 479s
concerning you to guard you in all your ways. So we know that God does send His angels to guard. 488s
Let's go to the New Testament, the Gospel of Matthew. This is the first book in the New Testament, 495s
the first Gospel. We'll go to Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18, looking at verse 10, 502s
and actually this is we're going to back up, we're going to just go, we're going to start at the beginning of 526s
18 where it says, it says, at that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 533s
He called the child whom He put among them and said, truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, 542s
you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, 547s
whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. If any one of you or if any of you put a 554s
stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone 562s
were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea. So He talks about 568s
tempting, tempting those to sin. So He talks about ways of being tempted into sin and that it's better, 574s
just better to cut off your hand and lose a hand then to have the whole person thrown into 585s
into the fires of condemnation. Well, so then in verse 10, He says, take care that you do not 594s
despise one of these little ones. For I tell you in heaven, their angels continually see the face of my father 602s
in heaven. So we know that the angels are sent to to serve God and to serve the church. We know that 611s
the angels will protect that they will guard and we know that there are in heaven, angels, 624s
their angels referring to the little ones, angels that continually see the face of the father. So 636s
what exactly is a guardian angel? Does everyone have his or her own personal guardian angel? 644s
We're back to the whole issue that we've been at for the past month with angels. 653s
Scripture doesn't say. Scripture doesn't say and if it doesn't say we're not going to venture there. 660s
We're not going to go there. We're not going to go and put our own ideas into it. We know that the 666s
angels will guard us. We know, oh, I think we read this in the second week that we had lessons where 672s
where Elijah prays for his comrades, eyes to be open, his servants, eyes to be open, and his 680s
his servant opens his eyes and sees the chariots of fire and the horses and all of this host of 689s
heaven that are ready to defend. And he is pretty or made pretty to the spiritual realm. 697s
That being said, and this is kind of another rabbit hole or tangent that we're going to talk 707s
about, but we are going to go here for a moment. So, so, thinking the spiritual realm, 711s
seeking to to see the spiritual realm, be cautious and dare I say, don't go there. 717s
Because in this world, we are offered opportunities all over the place, getting insight into the 731s
spiritual world, but where are those opportunities most often found? Through Wica, through 744s
terror readings, through Wiji boards, those are all bad news, bad news, because if we try to tap 755s
into the spiritual realm, we are really inviting evil and wickedness into our lives. 770s
It sounds tempting to have insight, it sounds tempting to know what is going on beyond the veil, 783s
but what God wants us to know, he will give to us. All else is none of our business. 796s
So, we don't seek past what God wants us to have or know. 808s
So, now let's talk about the angel, this is, I don't know how to best say, 821s
angel of the Lord and angel from the Lord. So, in Scripture, it's kind of interesting. You'll find 829s
that there is Lord, we'll be written in these two ways, where it's a, oh, I thought I lost my 837s
microphone, it's a capital L, like a big L, but then also smaller but capitalized, ORD. And then 850s
there's the capital L and then the lower case, ORD. When you see this, this is representative of 858s
Yahweh. This is God. So, when you see Lord like this, that is God. And when you see Lord, 870s
that is, that may be a status, that may be, so an angel of the Lord, it would probably most 887s
likely or it's usually like this if it is not God, angel of the Lord, capitalized, we know that that is, 896s
that is either a theophany or Christophany, which pastor Ibel taught, the difference between those 905s
in his class on Joshua, theophany is a manifestation of God, where one sees God. And Christophany 912s
is prior to the incarnate Christ. It is a happening or an experience with the pre incarnate Christ. 924s
So, we have theophany and Christophany. So, let's go. We have a couple of examples to look at. 938s
Here, let's go to Genesis, chapter 32, starting in the middle of it. So, Genesis is the first 945s
book in Scripture. Genesis, chapter 32. 953s
So, I'm going to give you the background, what's going on? Jacob is going back to his homeland. 964s
He's going to see Esa, Esa, who Jacob has cheated, although Esa sold his birthright. 977s
So, I don't know, but they're not good friends, they're brothers, but they always have this 985s
strife in their relationship. So, Jacob is going and they're staying the night and he gets up. 991s
So, we're going to pick up in inverse 22. So, this is a time where Jacob is going and he hasn't 1000s
quite seen his brother again, but he has his family with him. He has his flocks and his herds. 1007s
Okay, so they're on their way to meet Esa. Verse 22, or beginning in verse 22 of Genesis 32, 1013s
the same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids and his 11 children, and crossed 1022s
the fort of the jabbac. He took them and sent them across this stream and likewise everything that he had. 1027s
Jacob was left alone and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not 1033s
prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he 1039s
wrestled with him. Then he said, let me go for the day is breaking, but Jacob said, I will not let 1044s
you go unless you bless me. So, he said to him, what is your name? And he said, Jacob, then the man 1050s
said, you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans 1056s
and have prevailed. Then Jacob asked him, please tell me your name, but he said, why is it that you 1062s
ask my name? And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place piniel, saying, for I have seen God 1068s
face to face and yet my life is preserved. So, Jacob wrestled with God, we don't see if this is 1075s
an angel of the Lord or if it is the pre-incarnate Christ that he wrestles with, but we know 1087s
that he wrestles with God. There, let's go to judges. This is after the penitokes, so after the first 1097s
book, five books of the Bible, then we're going to find Joshua, then we find judges. So judges, 1106s
chapter six, judges, chapter six, um, looking at verse 22, actually let's go, let's go to 1116s
verse 11. This is the call of Gideon. So the angel, verse 11, now the angel of the Lord came 1135s
and sat under the oak at Ophra, which belonged to Joshua, the abesarite, as his son Gideon was beating 1141s
out wheat in the wine press to hide it from the Midianites. The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said 1149s
to him, the Lord is with you, you mighty warrior. Gideon answered him, but sir, if the Lord is with us, 1154s
then why has all this happened to us and where all his wonderful deeds that our ancestors recounted 1160s
to us, saying did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt. So notice in here, notice in here, 1166s
it is the angel of the Lord. See how Lord is written, that capital L, and then the smaller versions, 1173s
but still capitalized, O R D. And if you go down there where we just had cut off, where Gideon 1182s
says did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt. Again, it's that Yahweh reference. It's speaking of God. 1190s
So let's jump down to verse 16. The Lord said to him, but I will be with you and you shall strike 1205s
down the Midianites every one of them. Then he said to him, if I have now found favor with you, 1212s
then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Do not depart from here until I come to you 1217s
and bring you my present and set it before you. And he said, I will stay until you return. 1222s
So Gideon went into his house and prepared a kid and unleavened cakes from an EFA flower. The 1228s
meat he put in a basket and the broth he put in a pot and brought them to him under the oak and presented them. 1232s
The angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unleavened cakes and put them on this rock 1239s
and pour out the broth and he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out to the tip of his 1245s
of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes and fire spring 1251s
up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished 1256s
from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that it was the angel of the Lord and Gideon said, help me Lord God 1262s
for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. This is where God was present with Gideon. 1270s
It's interesting to see that the angel of the Lord up here L-O-R-D like capitalized, the angel of the 1282s
Lord says, put this on the rock and he touches it and it goes up in fire. What are the sacrifices 1291s
that are made? What are the burnt offerings, the sacrifices? Those are those are placed on the altar 1300s
and consumed with fire. So here we have God showing himself face to face with Gideon. 1308s
Let's keep going in the book of judges. We're going to go over to judges chapter 13. 1319s
Where we begin with with verse 1, the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the 1330s
Lord and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines 40 years. There was a certain man of 1336s
Zora of the tribe of the Danites whose name was Manoa. His wife was Baron, having born no children, 1341s
and the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, although you are Baron, having 1348s
born no children, you shall conceive and bear as son. Now be careful not to drink. So he tells her, 1353s
this is Samson that she will be pregnant with, but he tells her what to do. Jumping down to verse 6, 1360s
then the woman came and told her husband, a man of God came to me and his appearance was like that 1367s
of an angel of God most awe-inspiring. I did not ask him where he came from and he did not tell 1373s
me his name, but he said to me, you shall conceive and bear as son. So then drink no wine or strong 1380s
drink and eat nothing unclean for the boy shall be an azureite to God from birth to the day of his death. 1386s
Then Manoa and treated the Lord and said, O Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent 1392s
come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born. So again, 1396s
they had an encounter with God. In verse 15, Manoa said to the angel of the Lord, 1404s
allow us to detain you and prepare a kid for you. The angel of the Lord said to Manoa, 1415s
if you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, 1419s
then offer it to the Lord for Manoa did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 1424s
So we have God appearing being manifested in appearance to these people and he is the angel of the Lord. 1432s
Continuing, let's go to Daniel chapter 3. So this is, this is after Psalms after 1450s
Proverbs. So after the middle of the book, this is after the prophet Isaiah and Jeremiah 1461s
and Azikil, we're going to find ourselves at Daniel. So if you're open to the middle of your book, 1467s
you keep going to the right until you're find yourselves at Daniel. Daniel chapter 3, 1474s
beginning in verse 1, just to get the idea of what's going on. King Nebuchadnezzar made a golden statue, 1489s
whose height was 60 qubits and whose width was six qubits, he set it up on the plane of Dora in the 1502s
press, the prefects and the governors, the counselors and the treasures, the justices, the 1511s
mass magistrates and all the officials of the provinces to assemble and come to the dedication of the 1516s
statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. So all these people come and there is this direction 1521s
given in verse 4. The Harold proclaimed aloud, you are commanded, O people's nations and 1527s
languages that when you hear the sound of the horn pipe, Liar, Trigon, Harp, Drummond, entire 1532s
music, musical ensemble, you were to fall down and worship the golden statue that King Nebuchadnezzar 1537s
has set up, whoever does not fall down in worship shall immediately be thrown into a 1543s
furnace of blazing fire. So King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, he has this wonderful statue built 1549s
of himself and he expects and there is a law that is proclaimed that when the music 1559s
sounds, everyone shall stop what they are doing and praise the statue, which then Nebuchadnezzar, 1565s
not Nebuchadnezzar, but Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago, these are friends of Daniels, they are 1577s
Jews in exile in Babylon and they have been appointed seats of honor and in King Nebuchadnezzar, 1583s
court, so they have got people that serve Nebuchadnezzar that are not really keen on them 1595s
and so they call to attention of King Nebuchadnezzar that these three will not bow down in worship 1606s
the statue, the idol of Nebuchadnezzar and so picking up with verse 19, the Nebuchadnezzar was 1615s
so filled with rage against Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago that his face was distorted. He ordered 1625s
the furnace heated up seven times more than was customary and ordered some of the strongest 1632s
guards in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago and throw them into the furnace of blazing 1638s
fire. So the men were bound still wearing their tunics, their trousers, their hats and their 1643s
knees command was urgent and the furnace was so overheated the raging flames killed the men who 1655s
lifted Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago but the three men, Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago fell 1661s
down bound into the furnace of blazing fire. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose 1667s
up quickly, he said to his counselors, was it not three men that we threw bound into the fire? 1675s
They answered the King true, King. He replied, but I see foremen unbound walking in the middle of 1680s
the fire and they are not hurt and the fourth has the appearance of a God. Nebuchadnezzar 1687s
then approached the door of the furnace of blazing fire and said, Shadrach, Meshech and Abegnago, 1693s
servants of the most high God come out, come here. So the three came out of the fire and the 1700s
fire had not any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads were not 1710s
sanged, their tunics were not harmed and not even the smell of fire came from them. 1716s
So Nebuchadnezzar witnessed God walking with the three. He says, it is like a son of God. So 1725s
that leads us to understand that this is a Christophony. This is Christ. The pre-incernant Christ 1737s
walking with these three and keeping them guarded. So when you are reading scripture, when we are 1744s
engaged with God's word and we read of angels, we know that we don't know much about angels, 1755s
but we know that God sends his angels to guard us, to protect us. God has been seen in the old 1765s
testament we see the angel of the Lord, this top one and that has gone himself, that is present. 1781s
Where we had studied the story of Sodom and Gomorrah before the two angels went into Sodom 1789s
to Lott's home. There were three. There were three that were with Abraham and one was an angel of 1799s
the Lord. It was God. So God and two of his angels had come to Abraham and two went on to be with 1807s
God and to protect him. So what did we get out of studying angels? More confusion, maybe. 1816s
If nothing else, we know that we know so little about angels. We know that they exist. We know that 1831s
they serve God, they serve us, that God sends them to guard us, to protect us. We know that 1841s
we cannot count the number of angels. We know that when we experience an encounter with an angel, 1852s
that's not where we put our hope or trust in the experience. And I wouldn't spend too much time 1861s
trying to figure out did I just encounter an angel or not because then again we're tempted to 1870s
focus on something else. And we know that we don't become angels when we die, but we do go to 1877s
be with the angels because they are in the presence of Jesus. And when we die, we are instantly in 1887s
presence of Jesus. And we are promised in the fullness of time that not only will our soul be 1895s
consciously in the presence of Jesus, but that our bodies will also be resurrected. Our souls, 1903s
our bodies will become one again in a glorified state and we will be eternally in the presence 1910s
in the throne room of God, seeing Father's Son, Holy Spirit, and all his angels and all the 1919s
communion and company of saints. So, who? Angel. God bless him. Next week Pastor Eibel does start 1928s
his lesson on the life of David and then later in the spring we will be looking at three chapters 1942s
in Romans together. 1950s