How do you think people in the Bible reacted?
I got to thinking about the angel thing, and related matters. People tend to make a big deal out of the fact that some folks are seeing angels these days, and talking about it.
I’m not talking about new agers thinking they saw Glitter Sparkle Puff - I’m talking about Bible-believing, God-fearing, Jesus-loving Christians like you and me.
Argument #1 seems to run that there’s just not very many angel encounters in the Bible, so we shouldn’t be having them today. Um. Yeah. Have you ever read it? When I started investigating this, I discovered there were an awful lot of interactions between mankind and angels in the Bible.
Argument #2 seems to run that if a person sees an angel, they really shouldn’t talk about it, they should talk about Jesus instead. But let’s look at the facts…in the Bible, anytime anyone saw an angel, they talked about it and it got written down (else we wouldn’t even know about it, right?)… the folks who see them DO tend to give Jesus the glory, just as people in the Bible did (for example, Acts 12, an angel lets Peter out of jail and Peter acknowledges its presence. He MUST have talked about the angel because the record doesn’t indicate that anybody else was there (and if they were, then THEY talked about it). When he showed up at Mary’s house, he declared to them how God had brought him out of prison. God got the glory… but I bet he told them an angel let him out of jail!)
I think all too often, we read the Bible and get hung up on the fact that it doesn’t record it all. We’re reading history and not seeing the level of passion and drama behind it… and so we assume we should act like what we’re reading into it. Does that make sense to anyone?
July 8th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Imagine you’re a first century Jew. You’ve been taught your entire life that one day in Heaven that we shall worship alongside the angels in praise of God.
Then along comes this man named Paul, and some other guys with familiar names to modern ears like Peter, Luke, John, and such…and they begin to preach this awesome message of how God’s new covenant means that we will worship alongside the angels in the here and now…not just that, but we shall worship in the presence of God Himself, where once only the high priest could enter into the holy of holies.
Sometimes angels reveal themselves, and sometimes they do not. Sometimes we imagine them and offer glory unto Jesus Christ for it, and sometimes we do not imagine them at all.
In the end however, the angels are nothing compared to Christ and His power and His glory which they proclaim. To an extent, once we reach Heaven, they shall pale even next to the faithful, for as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 6 that the faithful shall judge angels.
His messengers, His guides, and something His flawed creations. Just like us in one sense, for as we fall so have angels before us. For as we stay loyal to Christ, so have angels prior to us. They are His servants, we are His sons and His daughters.
July 9th, 2008 at 3:44 am
Oh Philip, we are higher than the angels, they were created to be his servants, we were created to worship him, but I am a servant here to draw people to him. When we get to heaven, what a glorious time we will have.
July 9th, 2008 at 4:44 am
I think we miss the truth of the bible. We are not to worship angels. They have their purpose and this is as messengers of God. that is a known fact. So the thing is we are to go into all the World and preach the good news or as we know the Gospel. The Gospel is of Jesus Christ not an angel or angels. I freely have said there are angels, but we are not to worship them or put them ahead of God. So thats why I stand that I still don’t believe God would want us to not preach Jesus and preach about The Angel. What angel can say anyone. None, only through Jesus. Remember he said I am the way the truth and the life and no man cometh to the father except through me. So no other way to do it except through Jesus. So the fact is why would we dwell on an angel. We shouldn’t
July 9th, 2008 at 4:45 am
I have had encounters with angels and yes Kathi have talked to people about it, not ever put it ahead of preaching Jesus. It was a conversation, not preaching about it. We don’t glorify an angel
July 9th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Just gotta make sure that these angels aren’t the “fallen” ones….
July 9th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Now Ichabod thats is fact forsure
July 9th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Concur with Ichabod.
The bible tells us to test.
July 9th, 2008 at 11:01 am
Indeed, Caitlin. We should test. Don’t forget, I know more than a few fallen angels a little more intimately than most people.
However, some people take “testing” to mean, “because it could be false, we should never take a chance on it being true.”
As someone said elsewhere today - fear of deception is paralyzing the church - and fear is not of God.
July 9th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Kathi and we have gotten to the point where people don’t fear God anymore
July 9th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Rev, that is precisely what I think is going on here. People fear satan far more than they fear God, and see the enemy behind every bush and tree and man with a microphone. They feel a need to speak out of their fear, rather than turn to God with their whole hearts and seek His presence.
July 9th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
I won’t agree totally on that. And you knew I wouldn’t. My research shows me holes that concern me, things like when the tattoos, the use of force, those are the things that concern me.