The Cracked Acorn: Angels

A friend, in an act of kindness, gave my wife a small angel statue that can display wings of different colors; it’s very impressive. Of course, we do not know what these spiritual beings created to be messengers and stand in the presence of God really look like. They took a form to visit Abraham (Genesis 18), and one wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32).

Books upon books have been written on the subject of angels. TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL ran for 9 seasons on TV and made all the actors very rich. Many stores sell articles pertaining to angels. If you do get to discuss angels with someone while shopping, be prepared for a fully functioning system that angels are essential to our modern society. The following are a few questions people have posted on the internet:

• Have you ever met a supernatural messenger or envoy?
• When you heard someone speak about meeting angels, did you think they were weird?
• What do you think an angel feels when humans reject its message?
• If you believe that angels exist and act in our world, how should you live your life?
• What image do you think of when you see angels portrayed at Christmas?

Are angels sent forth today as ministering spirits to mankind would be the question to answer. The whole concept is that this would be a miraculous event, but miracles have ended (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:8-16). Since the supernatural stage no longer exist so God employs angels to implement his will on behalf of his saints in today’s world. It cannot be proven today angels appear in human form as in ancient times (Acts 10). But in extreme times of danger, this should not stop us from praying that God will intervene on our behalf (Daniel 3:19-25).

What children say :

• “My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science.”
• “Angels don’t eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!”
• “Angels taking us to heaven, talk about what went wrong before you got dead.”
• “Angels live in cloud houses made by God’s son, who is a carpenter.”
• “All angels are girls because they wear dresses.”
• “I can’t understand why an angel would shoot an arrow through someone in love.”
• “My grandma is an angel helping me while here on earth.”

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
The bed be blest that I lie on.
Four angels to my bed.
Four angels round my head,
One to watch, and one to pray,
And two to bear my soul away.”

(from: “A Candle in the Dark” by Thomas Ady 1656, an English physician who wrote books during a time when atrocities were inflicted on witches and the poor souls of the Inquisition.)

Angels usually describe the whole range of spirits whom God has created, including both good and evil angels and special categories such as cherubim, seraphim, and the archangel. Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament (Chafer, Systematic Theology, II, 3).