How Do Angels Effect Our Lives?

We live in a skeptical world. Indeed, for every religious devotee there is also a cynic among us, waiting to cast doubt on our most cherished beliefs. Yet, even the doubtful masses seem suddenly obsessed with angels. In recent years, heavenly beings have been the subject of television shows, movies, Broadway plays and best-sellers. Opportunistically grabbing on the coattails of angelic fascination are the eager merchants peddling an endless stream of consumer products, racking up some "heavenly" profits along the way. However, this is not just an enchanted whim; many individuals present testimonials of their true-life encounters with angels.

How are we to understand angels today? Many feel they possess a personal angel who guards over them night and day. Is this correct from a biblical standpoint? Is it proper to call on, or to pray to angels? If angels exist, what of their malevolent counterparts, the demons?

The vast majority of those who claim to be practicing Christians not only believe in the existence of angels, but also feel strongly that these angels affect their own lives in some capacity. In order to understand the role angels play, let's first briefly touch on their origin.

According to the Bible, angels are spirits, just as God himself is a Spirit. (John 4:24) The Bible refers to angels hundreds of times, and indicates that countless millions of angels are in God's heavenly family. God created the angels along with his firstborn angel Christ Jesus, or Michael, as he was termed in his pre-human existence. Angels are thus referred to as "sons of God," as seen at Job 38:7. Jesus' role in the creation of angels is shown at Colossians 1:16. "By means of him (Jesus) all other things were created in the heavens and upon the earth." Thereafter, when God created the earth, "all the sons of God began shouting in applause." According to this passage, they also "joyfully cried out together." (Job 38:4-7) As we can see, angels existed long before humans were created, and they were "all" initially a part of God's united divine family.

What are the roles of angels as outlined in the Bible? Do they have a hierarchy? Indeed they do. The Bible refers to the Archangel as the foremost angel, and identifies this one as Michael, or Jesus. (1 Thessalonians 4:16, Jude 9) Under his direction are the Seraphs and the Cherubs, who are in God's presence and in attendance at his throne. (Isaiah 6:1-7, Psalm 80:1, 99:1) All other angels, or "messengers" as their name literally means, are agents of God and carry out his Divine will.

As their name implies, angels often serve as messengers, or emissaries of God. For instance, God used an angel to relate the birth of Jesus to Mary. (Luke 1:26-31) After Jesus was born, an angel proclaimed the joyous birth to nearby shepherds in the field. (Luke 2:8-11) Angels were also used to deliver messages to Abraham, Moses and even to Jesus both at the start of his ministry and shortly before his death. (Mark 1:13, Luke 22:39-43)

Angels also execute God's judgment, as well as strengthen and protect individuals from harm, if God's will requires it. As an executioner, one angel struck down close to two hundred thousand encamped Assyrian soldiers, enemies of God's people. (2 Kings 19:35) In the account recorded at Daniel Chapter 3, we read of three faithful Hebrews who refused to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar's idolatrous giant image of gold. For their disobedience, they were cast into a fiery furnace that was so intensely hot that even the King's servants, who cast them in to the furnace, were burned up.

The account continues: "At that time Nebuchadnezzar the king himself became frightened and he rose up in a hurry. He was answering and saying to his high royal officials: 'Was it not three able-bodied men that we threw bound into the midst of the fire?' They were answering and saying to the king: 'Yes, O king.' He was answering and saying: 'Look! I am beholding four able-bodied men walking about free in the midst of the fire, and there is no hurt to them, and the appearance of the fourth one is resembling a son of the gods.' " An angel protected these integrity keepers from certain death.

Other stirring Bible accounts tell of how angels helped Lot and his family escape the flaming destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Genesis 19) Centuries later, an angel closed the mouths of lions to defend the righteous man Daniel. (Daniel 6)

So the question is, do angels continue to protect us today? They do, but perhaps not in the way you may think. According to the view of some, and possibly because it's a kindly and comforting notion, many feel that an angel has been "assigned" by God to be their personal guardian, welfare keeper and wish granter. They may feel or have been taught that this angel is a deceased loved one. Is this conception well-founded in Scripture? It is not.

It must be recognized that angels are in service to God, not that of humans. Psalm chapter 103, verses 20 and 21 show that angels carry out God's word, listen to His voice, and as ministers (or representatives) to God, they do His will. They respond to the direction of Almighty God alone, and are not at the disposal of man and his requests. That being said, the Bible does make clear that angels are keenly interested in the outworking of God's will and purpose as it relates to mankind. Luke chapter 15 and verse 10 reveals that when a sinner repents "joy arises among the angels." We cannot determine to what extent God uses angels in behalf of helping people, but we do know that making direct requests to any angel, including Jesus, is unscriptural. Why do we say that?

The Bible clearly makes known that all prayers and worship should be directed exclusively to God. God is called the "Hearer of Prayer" at Psalm 65:2, and he has not delegated that responsibility to any other being. God assures us that "no matter what it is that we ask according to his will, he hears us." (1 John 5:14) Regrettably, even mainstream religions have mired this privilege of directing our prayers wholly to God with the nonsensical idea of praying to Mary, various saints, Jesus, idols, the cross, and the angels. Even the New Catholic Encyclopedia states that "one prays to the angels but only in the sense that they intercede before God for us." Does the Hearer of Prayer require an angel to arbitrate and mediate for him? Is God too busy to manage the workload of millions of prayers? Hardly! Faithful angels are aware of God's wishes in this matter. When the Apostle John tried to respectfully show an act of worship to an angel, the angel quickly rebuked him, saying: "Be careful! Do not do that! All I am is a fellow slave of you and of your brothers who have the work of witnessing to Jesus. Worship God." (Revelation 19:10) Christ, in his three and a half year ministry, repeatedly directed worship to his Father.

Out of the millions of angels, the Bible provides only the names of two, Michael and Gabriel. Of course, all of God's angelic creations are named, but even when directly asked of their names, angels have declined to give them. (Genesis 32:29, Judges 13:17,18) Angels have not revealed their names, and God did not see to it that any listing of the names was recorded in the Bible. In this way, humans are thus prevented from giving angels undue attention. Jesus made clear that petitions to God are to be made in his (Jesus) name, or through him, since his ransom sacrifice opened up the way for all of us to have a relationship with God, but all prayers are to be directed to Almighty God, not to any angelic being. (John 15:16)

Consider too the flawed and hope-draining concept that God causes or requires the death of one of our dear loved ones because he needs another angel. How hypocritical to teach that an all-loving, all-powerful God demands the service of mere humans, sometimes our precious infants, to join his angelic army of angels. The Bible says that there are myriads of angels. Or literally, so many angels that they cannot be counted. Millions upon millions of angels exist. The explanation given at times to mourning families that God pressed a human into angelic employment paints God as indifferent and even cruel. It's nice to think that a loved one may be in Heaven with God, but certainly, a loving God would not rip someone away because he or she was "needed" in heaven. God needs nothing. Remember, ONE angel killed close to two hundred thousand soldiers. Angels were not created by God because he needed them; they were created out of love and a desire to show love. That same principled love thwarts such faulty thinking as above.

Many who believe in angels may choose to disbelieve in the counter-existence of demons. Traditional thinking may naturally cause us to close our eyes to unpleasant things, but the demons, led by Satan the Devil, do exist.

During the fifteen centuries following Satan's deception of Eve at Eden, God's family of angels observed Satan successfully turn all of humankind away from God, except a few notable righteous ones, such as Noah, Abel, Enoch and others. Some of the angels also yielded to Satan's design, and of their free will, left their heavenly abode. They perversely materialized into humans so that they could have sexual relations with the "daughters of men." They fathered a wicked race of giants, called the "Nephilim." God did not allow this to continue however. The global flood wiped away all "badness of man," including the Nephilim. (Genesis 6 and 7)

The rebellious angels escaped the flood by leaving their materialized bodies to return to heaven, but they were not allowed back into God's family of faithful angels. Thereafter, they were referred to as demons. They aligned themselves with Satan, the "ruler of the demons." (Matthew 12:24-27)

Should we fear the demons? To be sure, they are dangerous, crafty and powerful. (Ephesians 6:11,12) But that power is limited. They are in a condition of spiritual darkness and alienation from God, known as Tartarus. (2 Peter 2:4) They are restrained under "eternal bonds" and can no longer materialize human bodies. (Jude verse 6) No power of the Devil or his minions can compare with that of Almighty God and his legion of angels. By applying the counsel of God's Word, we "subject ourselves to God." By doing so, you also "oppose the Devil," who will then "flee from you." (James 4:7)

How vital it is to learn the truths as set forth in the Bible. These truths set us free from corrupting and misleading teachings that cause us to question our faith. (John 8:32) Be assured that God will hear any truth-seeking, sincere prayer that appeals to him to grant understanding. The angels will applaud your efforts as you search for this truth.