Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sunday morning Foundations Classes
God's Positioning System (GPS)
Angels Lesson #3
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The title Archangel only occurs in two Bible
verses: Jude
9 describes the Archangel Michael when he faced the Devil, and 1 Thess. 4:16
where Jesus returns with the voice of an archangel. Being associated with Jesus
one would tend to place archangel as a top rank. But we can’t disregard Seraphim who
many biblical scholars rank at the top. So, who’s right? One can be top ranking
within their
specific
sphere of
responsibility. A
Navy admiral and Army general may be of equal rank, but their authority is
dictated by their organizational responsibilities, one over sea, the other over
land.
The Seraph’s authority is focused within
the context of God’s throne. An Archangel’s responsibility is focused outward
as chief
warrior
in defense of God’s throne. We know Michael has the
same access to God’s throne since
he
takes his orders directly from God. Rank and authority don’t necessarily coincide. Archangels
and Seraphim have different area of responsibility and authority. I
don’t think you can pit one against the other, as some commentaries do.
Archangel, translated from the Greek, literally
means “chief
angel.”
Ranking between classification of angels isn’t always that certain; i.e.,
Seraphim, who tend God’s throne, don’t lead an army as does the Archangel
Michael or guard the tree of Life as do Cherubim.
In Dan. 12:1 Michael was defender of the
nation of Israel,
described
as “a
great prince who stands up for the children of your people” (i.e.,
Israelites). Michael's title is archangel. What exactly does that entail? During WWII
the allied armies in Europe and Africa were led
by a Supreme Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower, a five star general, the highest military rank at
the time. Now four star is the highest rank.
Eisenhower’s rank
reflected his authority as supreme commander over all
the allied forces in Europe and Africa,
which did not include the Pacific theatre. Rank and specific area of
responsibility go together. Both Lucifer (before his fall) and
Archangel Michael were top ranking angels. Jude 9 may give us a hint regarding the
possibility that
Lucifer may have been at
the very top of angelic ranks.
His position may have contributed to his pride.
Did Satan lose his exalted
angelic rank when he was cast out of heaven? Jude 9 seems to indicate that
Lucifer retained his rank, but lost his
authority over God’s
angels. We
see it when Archangel Michael
disputed
with
Satan over the body of Moses
in Jude 9: – But even the archangel Michael, when he
was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous
accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke
you!" We see something similar in how
top-ranking German prisoners were treated with respect, in accordance with
rank. Here we see an American officer saluting a higher rank surrendering
German officer.
One last word on Michael: The Book
of Daniel was written during the Babylonian captivity. Dan. 12:1 tells about a
time of distress, yet God assures Daniel that Michael (the archangel) will
protect his people. I believe the same is true today in the spiritual
battlefield.
Michael and his angelic hosts stand ready to respond to God’s command. If the
Church is to be God’s people, it must live by His Word. When we witness some of
the actions of certain mainline denominations, it’s apparent that not everyone
in the Church is of the Church.
Uriel is also identified as an archangel
by some,
but is
not included in the canonical books of the Bible—(those recognized as Scripture).
Few
have heard of Uriel, who is in the apocryphal books of 2 Esdras and Enoch and in some
ancient Jewish writings. Though Gabriel is not preceded by the title archangel,
he is
recognized by the Church as an archangel. Gabriel described himself as, "I
am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God.” (Luke 1:19).
Raphael appears in the apocryphal Old
Testament (Greek O.T.) Book of Tobit. He was accepted as one of three
archangels by the Roman Catholic Church. He was removed in the 4th century since he only appeared in the apocryphal books, which were removed by the
16th century Protestants because they were
not included in the official Hebrew Old Testament. They remained
in original King
James Version for 274 years but were removed in
1885. Raphael is still recognized by the Anglican tradition, the
official Church of England,
with some churches named after him as St. Raphael.
Many Christians believe that God cannot
save us unless we give Him permission, because
it
would violate our free will. Please note that Gabriel did not ask Mary’s
permission to be the mother of the Savior. He informed Mary of God’s
decision.
The angel’s message was a statement of fact, not a request for her permission.
Did it violate her free will, or bless her beyond measure? (See
Eph. 1:4-9)
A slight departure from angels, per se,
but it is related to Gabriel’s message to Mary that she was to be the mother of
the Savior, so it has relevance to our study of angels. We were chosen by the
Father, regenerated (born again) by the Holy Spirit. blessed and redeemed by Jesus Christ.
“The Destroyer” i.e., the Death Angel, in
Exodus 12, killed all the first born of Egypt, both humans and animals, to
compel Pharaoh to let the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt. The Destroyer is also
mentioned in Hebrews 11:28.
The Jews still celebrate the
Passover—“passing-over”
of the
angel of death,
by passing every home
having blood on the doorframe. Some scholars believe he was an archangel;
some believe it was Jesus.
But in the verse he
takes orders from God, most likely, an angel being instructed by the Second
Person of the Trinity, Jesus. The Passover lamb was representative of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. Some day, the Jews will understand that.
The four living creatures are described
in Ezekiel 1:10-14. A similar description is in Isaiah 6:2, where they are
referred to as Seraphs. They closely resemble the four creatures described in
Revelation 4:8. It is not clear whether all these passages are describing the
same four living creatures, but it is very likely they are of the same exalted
order of angels, whose main job, like the Seraphs, is to
worship God and proclaim His holiness (Rev. 4:8,19:4).
Just a couple of Bible verses in
regard to Guardian
angels. I don’t want to skip over them; they are worthy of mention.
Does
everyone have an angel watching over them? Scripture tells us of guardian angels,
but
doesn’t tell us if everyone had/has a
guardian angel. In researching angels, it leads me
to believe that God does assign angels to watch over His people. We can only
speculate how much they have protected us against Satan’s angels. I believe
Psalm 34:7 (next
slide) give evidence that yes
they do protect us.
Those who “fear Him”, can be defined as
“respect and love Him”, i.e., Christians. We tend to think of guardian angels as
watching over children, but the Bible tells us otherwise. I
posted three
verses showing
the protective role
of guardian angels.
There are many more verses that show angels protecting God’s people.
It’s believed that Moses wrote Psalm 91
concerning his own experiences. Satan quoted this verse when he tempted Jesus
on the temple mount (Luke 4:9-13). Nevertheless, it concerns the reality of
protective angels, i.e. guardian angels.
Our study of angels would not be complete
without mentioning Satan and his fallen angels. We, the
Church, are engaged in spiritual warfare. What does spiritual warfare have to
do with a study of angels? Everything! On the spiritual battlefield are two
opposing forces—God’s angels versus Satan’s fallen angels who shared in his
rebellion.
It all began with him. The story
of Lucifer’s fall is noted
in
two Old Testament chapters— Ezekiel 28:14 he is
referred to as an anointed cherub, and Isaiah 14:12, where
he is
cast down to the ground, i.e., the earth.
God created Lucifer full of wisdom and perfection
in
every way, even
in his love for God. This
slide
describes the perfect
nature of
Lucifer when created.
He was
endowed with exceptional intelligence which gave him persuasive powers.
As man turns away from God, he is prone to Satan’s influence, just as
Adam, though a perfect human, was swayed by Satan’s temptation.
Isa 14:12-14 tells us that Lucifer wanted
to be like God (i.e. the sin of pride). What’s equally amazing is
that one third of the angels followed him (Rev. 12:4), which could potentially
be tens or even hundreds of millions, even though they were all created perfect
and resided with God in a heavenly paradise. What swayed them?
God’s heaven is perfect; no one can
dispute that. What would create discontent in angels resided in a perfect place
(environment). What’s
the lesson? Even perfect creatures cannot maintain a degree of holiness
necessary to reside in perfect holiness equal to God for all eternity.
Were the angels that followed Lucifer,
jealous that man,
being created
in the image of God (Gen. 1:26), was given dominion
over the earth and everything in it? Being instigated by Lucifer, did they
resent mankind’s
inheritance, with a sense of pride that they were superior to man? I believe
their sin like that of man, is rooted in pride that can easily lead to
discontent—in both angels and man.
Having thousands of years of experience
studying human nature, they are experts at “temptation”! They know our
weaknesses and areas of discontent or pride. We are witnessing it on the civil
unrest in our society. The BLM/Antifa looting and riots is a manifestation of
that evil. Unless America turns to God in prayer, evil can only grow in
intensity.
Defacing of Washington DC monuments is an
example of demonic influence. The civil unrest we are seeing is because man
has turned away from God, and in doing so, has opened himself up to and embraced
evil.
Again,
as Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12, spiritual warfare is not against flesh and
blood, but against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Victor Davis Hanson of the Hoover
Institute believes we are in a revolutionary time. Attempts
are under way to defund the police, which may see a corresponding increase in
crime, as police fearing
political condemnation for doing their job, will begin ignoring many types of nonviolent
crimes and 911 calls. Yes,
we need to pray for America. Don’t be depressed. We have guardian
angels watching over us.
Are you ready to resume classes in
Heritage Lounge? Let me know by email or phone (both are in the church
directory). Until next time.
END OF ANGELS LESSON #3
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