We are going to tackle a big topic today: angels. This is a subject that could be taught for days and days. To be honest, this is a subject I am still learning about. The various types of angels and their jobs are vast. To discuss every detail about each type of angel, their duties, and roles would be like trying to talk about every human civilization that has ever lived and currently living. Each human civilization has different customs (jobs), looks different, and have different purposes (roles). 

For today we are going to only take a look at times when angels and humans interact with each other. 

What are angels? Angels are created beings that dwell mostly in the spiritual realm. Although they can manifest into our physical realm, as indicated in ‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭2‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”, they generally remain in the spiritual realm. We, as humans, can interact with the angels and can work together to further the kingdom of God. This is what the children of God and the angels have in common. We both desire to be servants of the Most High God and obey his commands. Both of us long to see the evil kingdom destroyed and the kingdom of God set up to rule and reign. We both recognize that we must work in God’s timing and under his authority. 

Roles of Angels

The roles of angels are as different as the roles humans have in the kingdom of God. The commonality is that the job of angels is to carry out the plans of God. They are given tasks to do, and choose to be obedient in carrying out those tasks. While I believe angels do a lot more than we are privy to knowing, we do get glimpses of some of the jobs given to various angels throughout the Bible. 

Rescue Angels

We see them in rescue missions such as we see in Acts when an angel is sent to rescue Peter from Prison.

“Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.

And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.” ‭‭Acts‬ ‭12‬:‭6‬-‭10 ‬‭(ESV)‬‬

Peter needed to escape prison and the Lord sent an angel to get him out. We see that the angel is lit up. I believe this is because he has been in the presence of God and the light Peter saw was the remnants of the glory of the Lord that remained on the angel. Recall this same thing happened to Moses after spending time in the presence of the Lord.

“Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.” Exodus‬ ‭34‬:‭34‬-‭35‬ ‭‭(ESV)‬‬‬‬

This angel was given supernatural power to make the chains fall off of Peter and open the iron gate that blocked Peter from going where he needed to go. God allows the angel to have authority over the elementals of this world in order to accomplish his plans. When something is blocking in the physical, such as the chains and iron gates, the angel has the authority, given by God, to override the physical to accomplish the spiritual goals. 

Peter’s scroll was not yet complete and the Lord still needed him alive on the earth to complete all that the Father wrote about the physical life of Peter. Satan was attempting to subvert the plan of the Lord for Peter and thus the Lord sent one of his servants in the form of an angel to rescue Peter. 

Lot is Saved

We see another time when the Lord sends out angels to rescue Lot and his family before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

“The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My Lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭‭(ESV)‬‬

That night evil men came to Lot’s house to have sex with the angels. Lot attempts to appease the lustful men by offering to give them his two daughters. What Lot fails to understand is that the Lord had given angels authority over the physical elements. The angels come out and cause the evil men to become blind. 

The angels then ask Lot if he has any sons-in-laws or daughters in the city. They tell Lot to gather his whole family together because the city will be destroyed by the Lord the next day. Lot goes out to get the men who are betrothed to his daughters. They laugh at him and refuse to come. We will pick up the story in verse 15:

“As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.”

And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my Lords. Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.” ‭‭Genesis‬ ‭19‬:‭1‬-‭22‬ ‭‭(ESV)‬‬

The Lord sent these angels to the wicked city of Sodom to rescue Lot and his family. Once again we see that the Lord equips these angels with the authority to control the physical. In this case they cause blindness to afflict the evil men of this city who were trying to defile them. 

Reaping and Sowing

I find it interesting that Jesus healed blindness while the angels caused blindness. In the case of Jesus, he was here to heal those who called upon him for healing. The angels in this story were there to bring judgment to the evil acts continually committed in this city. So when the evil men came to do more evil, they were allowed to judge them and strike them with blindness so they couldn’t follow through with their evil intentions. These men were experiencing the fruit of continually choosing to be spiritually blind, and thus became physically blind.

Judgement had already been proclaimed from the throne room of the Lord, and thus the angels were simply following through with what the Lord had already decreed against the city and these men.

Even as Lot and his family were preparing to leave, we see these angels protect them. Lot and his family were moving too slow so the angels grabbed them and placed them outside the city. The angels tell Lot to take his family to the hills, lest they be destroyed with the city. Lot whines and complains that the hills are too far and asks if he can go to the nearby city. The angels tell Lot he can take his family there, and they will protect that city from destruction. 

Angels Save Paul

One more quick story of when the Lord sent angels to save people from imminent death and danger. 

We see this encounter in the book of Acts. Paul had been arrested and requested to speak with Caesar. He was put on a ship headed toward Rome. However, before they could get to Rome a huge storm came and destroyed the ship. Let’s take a look at the encounter Paul had with and angel sent from the Lord to help rescue him: 

“Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.” 

(vs 41) But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.” ‭‭ Acts‬ ‭27‬:‭21‬-‭26‬, ‭41‬-‭44‬ ‭‭(ESV)‬‬

As I was reading this passage, I began to wonder if the Lord sent angels to help push all the men to the shore. I haven’t spent time on the sea, and I have no real experience with storms on the water. However, I have heard and read about such storms. This storm was bad. Really, really bad. So bad that the whole ship crumbled against the beating storm.

How Did the Men Survive

If the storm was bad enough to destroy a huge ship, it surely was bad enough to kill men swimming or hanging on for dear life on the pieces of the ship. It doesn’t seem logical that the men would be saved, while the ship and everything in it perished. In fact, the angel even tells Paul that no human life would be taken in this storm. This begs the question, how did these men all get safely to shore without harm? Could it be that the Lord sent a bunch of angles to get the men safely to shore? We know that the Lord sends angels to save people, so why not do that in this case too?

We are going to pause here for this week. I hope you will join me next week as we continue to look at ways angels are sent by God to interact with humans. I don’t know about you, but I find this topic fascinating! 

Be blessed my friends.