Angels (1)

	Occasionally, there are religious topics which reach a high level of popularity.  Books about them start to fill the bookstore shelves.  They are presented by media which are usually hostile to religious ideas, including television and movies.  Sadly, increased interest does not always mean increased knowledge.  In fact, the opposite is often the case as interest gives way to speculation.
	This has been true recently about angels.  Of course, this focus is not entirely new.  Before the end of this year, almost all of us will have seen at least a portion of a movie in which an angel assists Jimmy Stewart.  Still, interest in angels seems to have increased in the past few years.
	Since they don't want to be seen as looking favorably at a religious topic, many movie-makers have changed the character from an angel to a ghost.  But the message is the same.  They have been sent back from the "other side" to perform good deeds, sometimes to make up for things they did in life.
	An Associated Press article printed in 1992 makes reference to an 1990 Gallup poll in which 13 percent of the people responding claimed to have had what they regard as an encounter with an angel or devil, or some other kind of supernatural experience. According to the survey, one-half of all Americans, including 75 percent of the teenagers, say they believe in angels.
	What about angels?  Who are they?  Where do they come from? What do they do?  Do they resemble their counterparts on the big screen?
	First of all, angels are not dead humans who come back to assist mortals.  This is Hollywood hype and not biblical truth. Angels were created as angels when God made the universe.
	"Praise the Lord!" we read in Psalm 148:1-5.  "Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise Him in the heights!  Praise Him, all His angels; praise Him, all His hosts!  Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars of light!  Praise Him, highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens!  Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created."
	"For by Him all things were created," Colossians 1:16 says of Christ's involvement in the creation, "{both} in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created by Him and for Him."
	So all angels, including the wicked or disobedient ones, were created in the beginning.  They are not recycled human beings.
	The Bible informs us that certain angels were set apart when they refused to submit to God's authority.
	"God did not spare angels when they sinned," according to 2 Peter 2:4, "but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment."
	"And angels who did not keep their own domain," we note in verse six of Jude, "but abandoned their proper abode, He has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day."
	There are various categories among the angels who have chosen to obey God.  One angel, Michael, is identified as the "archangel."
	"But Michael the archangel," we read in Jude verse nine, "when he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a railing judgment, but said, 'The Lord rebuke you.'"
	"And there was war in heaven," Revelation 12:7-8 states, "Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. And the dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven."
	So Michael, the archangel, takes a lead role in combating the devil.  It will also be his job to help announce the end of the world and the return of Jesus. 
	"For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout," we find in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, "with the voice of {the} archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first."
	By the way, we know the names of very few angels.  In fact, requests by humans to know the names of angels are often rejected.
	"Then Jacob asked him and said," we read in Genesis 32:29 of one encounter with an angel, "'Please tell me your name.' But he said, 'Why is it that you ask my name?' And he blessed him there."
	"And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord," Judges 13:17-18 records of another encounter, "'What is your name, so that when your words come {to pass,} we may honor you?'  But the angel of the Lord said to him, 'Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful (or incomprehensible)?'" 
	But the Bible does choose to mention Michael by name.  We should remember, though, that names in the Bible often carry symbolic meanings.  A name is often a description rather than something which would be placed on a driver's license. "Michael" literally means, "Who is like God?"

	The Scriptures record the name of Michael, the archangel. The Bible also chooses to name another angel, Gabriel.  His name means, "God is mighty."
	"And it came about when I, Daniel, had seen the vision," Daniel 8:15-16 records, "that I sought to understand it; and behold, standing before me was one who looked like a man.  And I heard the voice of a man between {the banks of} Ulai, and he called out and said, 'Gabriel, give this {man} an understanding of the vision.'"
	"And Zacharias said to the angel," Luke 1:18-19 says when the father of John the Baptist is told that he would have a son in his old age, "'How shall I know this {for certain}? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.'  And the angel answered and said to him, 'I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God; and I have been sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news.'"
	"Now in the sixth month," we read in verses 26-27 of the same chapter, "the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin's name was Mary."
	We know of Michael, who helps lead the fight against Satan, and Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and is sent to deliver special messages.  The Bible also mentions a distinct group of angels known as the cherubim.  The singular form is "cherub," although the reality is far from the usual picture of a chubby little cupid.  The word refers to something which is held fast.  In a certain sense they are, without intending any disrespect, God's "watch-dogs."
	Unger's Bible Dictionary expresses that they are, "evidently connected with vindicating the holiness of God against the presumptuous pride of fallen man."
	"The cherubim apparently have to do with the holiness of God as violated by sin," the dictionary adds.
	"So He drove the man out;" Genesis 3:24 states, "and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life."
	"And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide," God instructs Moses in Exodus 25:17-22.  "And you shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat.  And make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim {of one piece} with the mercy seat at its two ends.  And the cherubim shall have {their} wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be {turned} toward the mercy seat.  And you shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you.  And there I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel."
	"Moreover," God instructs in Exodus 26:1 in reference to the Tabernacle, "you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine twisted linen and blue and purple and scarlet {material;} you shall make them with cherubim, the work of a skillful workman."
	Cherubim are even more prominent in the temple built by Solomon.
	Descriptions of the cherubim come from the books of Ezekiel and Revelation.  We should stress that descriptions are just that...descriptions.  They are not intended to be photographs.  The words used to describe any heavenly being are intended to present his character or nature and not some physical aspect.  A spiritual being has no physical aspect unless he is making himself evident to some human.
	"And as I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north," Ezekiel records beginning in chapter one, verse four, "a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire.  And within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form.  Each of them had four faces and four wings.  And their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze.  Under their wings on their four sides {were} human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their {faces} did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, {each} had the face of a man, all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle.  Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another {being,} and two covering their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went.  In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire.  And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning."
	"Then I looked," Ezekiel writes in chapter 10, "and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.  And He spoke to the man clothed in linen and said, 'Enter between the whirling wheels under the cherubim, and fill your hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, and scatter {them} over the city.' And he entered in my sight. Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court.  Then the glory of the Lord went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud, and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the Lord. Moreover, the sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks."
	Ezekiel says in verse 15 that the cherubim are the same as the living creatures he described in the first chapter.  
	"And from the throne proceed flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder," John reveals in Revelation 4:5-8. And {there were} seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne {there was,} as it were, a sea of glass like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.  And the first creature {was} like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature {was} like a flying eagle.  And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, {is} the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.'"
	Notice that, according to Ezekiel, each cherub has four faces: man, lion, bull and eagle.  According to John, each of the four has a different face.  The point is not in the snapshot.  It involves the character of the cherubim.  Man is the king of creation.  The bull is the king of domesticated animals.  The lion is the king of beasts.  The eagle is the king of the air.  Both John and Ezekiel are saying the same thing: these are awesome beings.
	Wouldn't it be wonderful to witness something like this?  In fact, we have all been given the opportunity to spend eternity with Michael, Gabriel and the cherubim.  All we have to do is obey the truth and be set free. 

Unless otherwise noted, "Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE(R), (C) Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission." (www.lockman.org)