SBS Sermon Notes

Angels

English	- Angel	= Messenger of God
Hebrew	- Malik	= Messenger, Agent
Greek	- Aggelos	= Messenger, Agent, Envoy

1. Some Facts about Angels

They are ministering Spirit Beings

Hebrews 1:7	And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
14	Are they not all ministering spirits* sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.*

They are created beings who do not marry

Matthew 22:30

For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

They are sometimes referred to as the 'Sons of God'

Job 1:6

Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.

They have names

Their names often end in 'el' (meaning 'of El' or 'of God'), e.g. Michael, Gabriel. The Talmud adds: Raphael, Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel and Zadkiel. These seven archangels are the messengers (maliks) of Yahweh the Almighty God of Israel.

They have rank

Jude 9	Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, 'the Lord rebuke thee.'
1 Thessalonians 4:16	For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.

2. The Devil

The Devil is a fallen archangel. The basic word devil ('diabolus') means to wilfully misrepresent, to present as blameable, to traduce. At some date in the past the Devil led a rebellion against the Almighty and a third of the angels joined in his revolt.

Revelation 12:7

And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

The Devil had hopes of taking over the government of the entire universe: to sit on the very throne of God. This, almost incredible, plan is described in the following passage where the Devil is represented as the King of Tyre, the capital city of Phoenicia where trade and commerce had its birth.

Ezekiel 28:12

12: Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13: Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14: Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15: Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16: By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17: Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.
18: Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19: All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.

The Devil's revolution is about to come to its end: for he and his followers are to be burned to ashes in the lake of fire. Many evil angels are already held in darkness awaiting their Day of Judgement.

Jude 6	And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
2 Peter 2:4	For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment
Revelation 20:7	7: And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8: And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9: And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10: And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

For further information see: Satan the Devil (Lucifer)

3. Gabriel Gabriel = God has shown himself mighty; or Man of God.

Daniel 8:16-27	Commissioned by Yahweh to give Daniel understanding.
Luke 1:11-22	Commissioned by Yahweh to announce the birth of John the Baptist.
26-38	To announce the birth of Jesus.
Luke 1:19	Gabriel stands in the presence of the Almighty. He is an archangel of great power and authority.

4. The Angel of The Lord

"Whilst any angel sent to execute the commands of God might be called the angel of the Lord (2 Samuel 24:16; 1 Kings 19:5,7 yet mention is made of an angel under circumstances that justify one in always thinking of the same angel who is:

Distinguished from Jehovah and yet is identified with him.
(Genesis 16:10,13; 18:2-4,13,14,33; 22:11,12,15,16; 31:11,13; Exodus 3:2-4; Joshua 5:13-15; 6:2; Zechariah 1:10-13; 3:1-2)

Who revealed the face of God (Genesis 32:30)

In whom was Jehovah's Name (Exodus 23:21)

And whose presence was equivalent to Jehovah's presence (Exodus 32:34; 33:14; Isaiah 63:9)

The Angel of the Lord thus appears as a manifestation of Jehovah himself, one with Jehovah and yet different from him. (Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, page 29, article Angel)

5. Messengers of Yahweh

Genesis 16:1-6	Explain the domestic situation in Abraham's house.
7	*And the Angel of the LORD found her by the fountain of water in the wilderness, ... And he said 'Hagar, Sarah's maid, whence camest thou?'*

Points to note:

He knows our names and employment: 'Hagar, Sarah's maid,'

He often asks you to state your case: 'Whence camest thou?'
1 Kings 19:13: What doest thou here Elijah?

Where are you going? Where do you suppose you are going? 'I flee from the face of my mistress.'

Return to thy mistress, and submit thyself under her hands. Here is advice to all believers (Hagar believed in Yahweh, else she would not have prayed to Him) to return to our duties - however difficult they may appear to be.

I will multiply thy seed exceedingly ... Thou shalt bear a son and shall call his name Ishmael (God hears). Ishmael is a reminder to all those who think the Yahweh doesn't hear prayer. He does, and the name Ishmael proves that God (El) does hear.

Isaac, the son of the promise was born 13 years after Ishmael. Yahweh hears our prayer and though He may appear to be long in answering, the answer will always come. So wait for it.

Ishmael became the progenitor of 12 princes; his daughter married Esau (Genesis 28:9; 36:10) Some, not all, of the present-day Arabs are descendants of Ishmael.

Yahweh knows our potential long before we or our parents realise it. He will be a wild man, His hand will be against every man. Consider the violence in the Middle East. How true is the Almighty's assessment of Ishmael. He will be a wild man.

He shall dwell in the presence of his brethren

How true this is proving to be as the Arabs take their place in the midst of Israel.

6. Angel Protection

Astonishing as it may seem, each and every one of us has angel protection, even from birth. We refer to these angels as 'guardian angels.' Harming others - especially little children, or those who are young in the faith - can have fearsome consequences.

Matthew 18:10	*Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.*
Psalm 34:7	*The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. 8: O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.*

Praise Yahweh for this reassuring fact!

MLC Sermon Notes More sermons about Angels

July 1999
Matanyah Learning Centre, Duiwelskloof, South Africa
matanyah.cjb.net/snotes/note0104.html