JUST THINKING: Thinking About Angels
Dr. Tom Mitchell
I have been privileged to alternate each week with our pastor, Allen Morton, teaching Revelation at Chenal Valley Baptist Church. It is filled with the forthcoming ministry of angels. Today, I was just thinking about God’s messengers, the angels.
Misconceptions About Angels
First, while they are often referred to with masculine pronouns, angels have no gender. They are neither male nor female. Second, when believers die, they do not receive angel wings. No one becomes an angel after death.
We believers are children of God. In our earth suits, we were created a little lower than the angels, but one day we will be above the heavenly hosts.
Angels Wait on God
Created eons ago, angels have witnessed the splendor of God’s glory and have been in awe of His amazing creation. As a result, they are committed to serving the Almighty in whatever He instructs them to do.
The psalmist wrote, “Praise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will” (Psalm 103:20-21 NIV).
Angels Deliver God’s Messages
If the prophets of old could verbally speak to us today, they would say God gave them His messages by angels. The term angel means messenger. Isaiah was a recipient of such ministry. “Then one of the seraphim (an angel) flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for’” (Isa. 6:6-7).
Another example is Zechariah, the man who would be the father of John the Baptist. He received this message that says a lot in just a few words. “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news” (Luke 1:18).
Angels Will Sound the Trumpet Judgments
I have been teaching Revelation for 58 years of my 60-year ministry. I have continuously been in awe of how God will use many of His angels to announce the seals, trumpets and bowls judgments yet to come during the Great Tribulation.
None of those events have transpired, but because they are God’s Word, they most assuredly will happen. The wonderful truth is that, at the sound of a future judgment, the rapture of the saints will occur, and we will escape the terror of the impending judgments.
From the messenger of Christ, we learn of seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given the responsibility of announcing judgments. “And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them” (Rev. 8:2). From Rev. 8:3 through Rev. 9:21, the terrible outpouring of judgment is revealed as, one by one, the seven angels carry out the tasks assigned to them by the Almighty.
Angels are Not Cartoons!
Please do not picture ladies with wings or chubby little cherubs with bows and love arrows on Valentine’s Day when you think of angels. They are the heavenly host of God, and there are innumerable legions of them. And we humans who place our trust in Jesus Christ are the beneficiaries of the ministry of angels.