Evil Judging Evil
Notes
Transcript
ME:
ME:
let us talk about angels for a moment.
We have seen them earlier in Rev. and in our Fear Less study through the book of Daniel earlier this year.
But Lord willing, as we continue through Revelation,
We will see the prominence of angelic and demonic activity continue to take place.
So, at this point, it would be helpful to have a brief discussion on angels.
On the broadest level they are supernatural beings that are created by God to serve Him.
God uses angels to carry out His will.
Some of the time, He does so in specific response to prayer,
Though that is not the norm.
The most common function of angels are that of a messenger,
Most often seen in the Bible visiting people to deliver a message to that person.
The Greek and Hebrew words translated to angel are references to a messenger.
In fact, the same term is used for human messengers,
Which is part of what makes understanding angels relatively challenging.
We must use the context around these words to determine if the messenger is human or angelic.
This means the title angel does not explain their nature, rather their office as a messenger.
It wasn’t until the Bible was translated into the Latin Vulgate where two different words were used to differentiate human messengers from angels.
From there, we have translated the two terms separately in English as well.
There are not usually detailed descriptions of angels in the Bible.
Instead, they are often referenced with some level of imagery.
We have seen in Revelation that there are myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.
We also see implicit suggestions of differing ranks.
Later in Rev. 14:6
they are described as flying,
Though the specific name angel is never described as having wings.
Cherubim and seraphim are two likely ranks of angels that are described with wings,
But the general imagery of a winged angel does not actually come from a biblical description of angels.
Nor does the fact that people become angels when they die come from a biblical description.
These notions have come from non-biblical sources.
First, it came from Greek literature which ascribed the winged description of cherubim and seraphim to all angels.
So, Greek mythology began blending with Jewish theology.
In the Ancient world, conceptions of spiritual winged beings was already present.
Ancient Assyrian statues had the head of a human with the body of a beast and wings.
These statues represented guards to sacred buildings and proclaimers of the divine.
Combined with these cultural influences is ancient literature that is written like the Bible but is not actually Scripture.
Referred to as non-canonical literature,
Or more specifically, the pseudepigrapha.
Which literally means, false writings.
Like the Bible, The pseudepigrapha is made up of books,
For example, the books of 1, 2, 3, and 4 Maccabees, Tobit, 1, 2, and 3 Enoch, just to name a few.
These books give far greater details about angels.
But these books are not Scripture, so we do not treat them as such.
From the combination of these influences,
Jewish views on angels began depicting them as winged mythical gatekeepers,
As creating murderous offspring with unmarried humans leading people into sin.
Or as being the form a person took after their death.
This misconception began in the ancient world and continued through NT times.
We see this mistaken understanding of angels in Acts 12:15
, when Jewish believers thought Peter’s appearance was his angel.
These misconceptions about angels heightened during the Renaissance and have continued to increase throughout history.
People and cultures have elevated the roles of angels and demons in the universe higher than the role they are prescribed in the Bible.
As servants of God, angels bring messages on behalf of God,
And they execute His will.
They are God’s agents, used to carry on His work of redemption.
Angels do not come onto the scene in the Bible until after God’s covenantal call of redemption to Abraham,
From that time on, we see a multitude of references to their ministry on earth.
From rebuking idolatry in Judges 2
to appearances on behalf of prophets in 1 and 2 Kings and Zechariah and Daniel.
After the incarnation in the NT, the ministry of the angels shifts.
They would come to earth to serve the Lord’s purposes while He was here on earth.
From predicting His coming in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke,
To ministering to Him after temptation in Matthew 4:11
, and after agony in Luke 22:43
.
They were present to declare His resurrection in Matthew 28
and John 20
.
They also declared His ascension in Acts 1.
We see in the gospels, they rejoice over sinners repenting,
And even though they do not know when the Lord will return,
We see that they will be involved in the judgments of the end times,
And they will join Christ when He returns at His second coming.
Their role as this ongoing ministering spirit to God’s people today is a mysterious one.
Hebrews 1
contrasts their role as servants to those who would inherit salvation against the exalted Christ.
We also see continued service and messages being brought to God’s people sprinkled throughout Acts.
But we must remember, Acts is a narrative,
It has recorded accounts that were happening during the early church,
This means we do not interpret every account in a narrative as if it were prescribing the events as normative.
They are ministering spirits,
But misapplication of angels has been a dangerous one
So, we would be wise to exercise caution against expecting an angel to appear and deliver a message,
Because God has spoken to us through His Word.
The fact that we have His inerrant Word is His miraculous message to us.
And God used His angels to communicate and preserve His Word.
One other caution regarding angels is the concept of guardian angels.
Psalm 34:7
and Matthew 18:10
are usually lifted up as evidence of this belief.
But the Easton Bible Dictionary helps correct this misconception;
“[These passages] merely indicate that God employs the ministry of angels to deliver his people from affliction and danger, and that the angels do not think it below their dignity to minister even to children and to the least among Christ’s disciples.”
Those designated specifically as angels in the Bible are described as messengers or servants.
Yet, angels long to understand the gospel truths God gives to the church.
These truths make us more privileged than angels.
Angels are spirits, similar to our soul, but they do not have a body like we do.
However, when they appear to deliver messages in the Bible, they are described of having an appearance like a human.
So, there is some resemblance between mankind and angels.
Like us, angels are creatures, they were created by God.
As creatures like us, it seems angels can fall into temptation.
The Bible speaks of fallen angels
Most specifically, Satan.
They are described as being punished in eternal fire,
Bound in darkness awaiting judgment,
And Rev. 12
shows them fighting against faithful angels and being defeated.
Two specific faithful angels mentioned in Scripture are Gabriel and Michael.
Unlike us, however, angels do not experience physical death and they seem to be more powerful than humans.
Angels are described as both holy and elect,
But there are repeated admonitions against worshipping angels.
God’s people and God’s angels are elected by Him and made holy by Him,
No person nor any angel is to steal the glory, worship, and honor, that is reserved for God alone.
WE:
WE:
GOD:
GOD:
YOU:
YOU:
WE:
WE: