Warriors and Messengers - Day 3
"Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure." Psalm 103:20-21
God created the angels perfect. God is perfect and Holy. That means He is without flaw, always right, and morally pure. Because He is perfect, everything He does is perfect, or He would not be God. The angels were created to worship and serve God, and God gave them knowledge, wisdom, and strength for that purpose. But because angels are created beings, they are limited beings. Angels may be spirit beings, but they are nevertheless limited in their wisdom, knowledge and strength. Only God is infinite and unlimited. Since God created the angels, they rightfully belong to Him. God is sovereign. Everything God makes belongs to Him, and He rules over all. Angels are limited and belong to God.
God created a number of angels. I love the scriptural descriptions of the heavenly throne room scenes. As in Revelation 5:11-12
"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."
Now that is a lot of angels created by God. What a beautiful scene of heavenly worship! Scripture also describes the physical features of different angels created for different purposes. Scripture uses other names for angels such as, “holy ones”, “spirits”, “watchers”, “cherubim”, and “seraphim”. Seraphim are described in Isaiah6:1-8, and Ezekiel 1:4-28 gives an awe-inspiring description of angelic creatures. Ezekiel 28:11-19 and Isaiah 14:12-15 tell of one special angel who was “the annonited cherub…” who God created for a special position of authority, Lucifer. Lucifer was also wiser and more beautiful than all of the other angels.
There are two other angels who are named in both the Old and New Testaments, Michael and Gabriel. In Luke chapter 1 Gabriel made special appearances to announce the conception of both John the Baptist and his cousin, Jesus. That must have been a high honor indeed! Scripture gives warnings concerning angels, that as created beings we are not to pray to them or worship them, for they are servants of God just as we are.
“Thank you, Father, for revealing to me the truth about angels. You Word is true! Amen”
