REV 3- Angels Role in Heaven
As we further consider Angels’ prayers in Revelation, we need to investigate what type of angels God identifies and they can work for Him. It is clear from Revelation that angels are very important to God’s work with all of us.
- God’s Secret Agents
Ps. 91:11; Ez. 10:9-13,16-17; Col. 2:15; Ps. 68:17; Deut. 33:2; Gen. 3:24; Heb. 1:14
There is a story of an illiterate Chinese mother who had never attended school or a church and had never seen a Bible, but had met a missionary. This missionary had told her about Jesus, “who is able to help you when you are in trouble”. This mother lived in a mountain area in China where tigers lived. One day a year or so after her encounter with the missionary, she was walking up the foothills with a baby tied to her back and a little child walking beside her. Suddenly, she saw a tigress springing at her, followed by two cubs. The claws of the tigress tore into her arm and shoulder. The mother screamed out in a frenzy, “O Jesus help me”. The ferocious beast stopped attacking and just as suddenly, turned and ran away.
The Bible says, “He will give His angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways” (Psalm 91:11). Had God sent an angel to help this poor ignorant Chinese mother? Are God’s Secret Angels today able to be involved in situations like this one? In his book “Angels”, Billy Graham tells many such stories, all with no clear explanation of how the people involved were their saved from harm or experienced some unexplained intervention.
In Ezekiel 10 we read, “Each of the four cherubim had a wheel beside him-
The Whirl Wheels- as I heard them called, for each one had a second wheel crosswise within, sparkled like chrysolite, giving off a greenish-yellow glow.” “When the cherubim stood still, so did the wheels, for the spirit of the cherubim was in the wheels”. Clearly, these cherubim were not called angels in these passages, but they were some type of heavenly being. However, Cherubs are angels that stand close to God’s throne. God had cherubim guard the gate with flaming swords, in Genesis 3:24- which was first time cherubim appear in the Bible.
Billy Graham writes that he is convinced that these heavenly beings exist and that they provide unseen aid on our behalf. He further says that he does not believe in angels because someone has told me about a dramatic visitation from an angel, impressive as such rare testimonies may be. Mr. Graham says he does believe in angels because the Bible says there are angels, and he believes the Bible to be the true Word of God. He further says that he believes in angels because he has sensed their presence in his life on special occasions.
Colossians 2:15. Paul is indicating that angels are here to help.
Psalm 68:17. It says that angels are chariots of God.
Deuteronomy 33:2. Ten thousand angels came down on Mount Sinai to confirm
God’s presence.
Hebrews 14:1. The writer asks: “Are they (angels) not all ministering spirits?”
- Angels Are Real- Visible or Invisible?
Mark 12:25; Num. 22:23, 31; Ps.91:11-12; Dan. 6:22, 3:25; Matt. 22:30; Rev. 10:1
In Daniel 6:22 we read, “My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths.” Daniel’s sight evidently perceived the angelic presence, and the lions’ strength more than met its match in the power of the angel. Inmost instances, angels, when appearing visibly, are so glorious and impressively beautiful as to stun and amaze men who witness their presence. In Daniel 3:25, the king said, “I see four men…in the midst of the fire”. The angel had come to the Hebrew friends of Daniel in the midst of the flame without harm and was seen by the king.
In Revelation 10:1, John describes the glories of the angels visibly descending from heaven with immeasurable beauty and brilliance, shining like the sun. Who told John to record this? Revelation 5:11 says, John saw “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels around the throne”.
In Numbers 22:23, 31, it seems that God granted Balaam and his donkey a new optical capacity to view the angel! Without this special sense they might have thought him (angel) to b only a fragment of their imagination.
On the other hand, the bible indicates angels are more often invisible to human eyes. Whether visible or invisible, God causes His angels to go before us, and to follow after us. All of this can be fully understood only by believers who know that angelic presences are in control of the battlefield around us, so we can stand with complete confidence in the midst of the fight, like Romans 8:31.
There are also Scriptures that tell us about angels and their qualities, like Matthew 22:30; Mark 12:25; Psalm 91:11-12. Let’s read the verses in Mark and Matthew. We had previously reviewed the verses in Psalms. All of these passages indicate that angels are real- visible or invisible! But there are many more that offer proof that angels exist.
- Angels in Prophecy and Gospels
Luke 1:16; Luke 1:47; Matt. 1:20; Dan. 9:24; Luke 2:10,11; Acts 8:26; Rev.19:11-14
In Daniel 9:24 the angel Gabriel appeared to the prophet Daniel and In Luke 1:5-25 Gabriel appeared to Zacharias the father of John the Baptist. So, here is a case where Gabriel is in both prophecy and the Gospel.
In Luke 1:47 it says: “My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.” Here was the news that Mary herself needed a Savior, and had found Him. It was Gabriel that was the angel that brought the message to Mary about being with child.
Matthew 1:20. It tells of an angel that appeared to Joseph and told him the real story that Mary was innocent of any transgression and that he, Joseph, was chosen as the vessel of God in affording Mary’s perfection in this extraordinary event. gr
In Luke 2:10-11, the angel had quieted the fears of the shepherds, when he brought the message of the Savior, Christ the Lord. In Acts 8:26, Philip obeyed the angel and approached the chariot and then the angel led Philip away (seemingly disappearing) to preach the gospel in another area.
The Book of Revelation, from chapter 4 to 19, gives us a picture of judgments to befall the earth such as the world has never known. Angels will be involved in all of these judgments. Revelation 19:11-14 tells of Jesus’ return (known as the Second Coming) with the saints (us) and the angels following to set up His kingdom.
These are just a few of the events that describe where angels have been or will be involved in prophecy and the Gospel.
- Angel Spectators
1 Cor. 4:9; Ep. 3:10; 1 Tim. 5:21; Luke 15:10; Ex. 23:23; Heb. 13:2; Acts 1:9
How would you live if you knew you were being watched all the time? We know God is watching us, but 1 Corinthians 4:9 teaches that angels are watching us. Paul says we are a “spectacle” to the angels. “God has made an exhibit of us…a show in the world’s amphitheater- with both men and angels (as spectators)” (Amplified Bible). Billy Graham states: “We know they are watching, but in the heat of the battle, I have thought how wonderful It would be if we could hear them cheering.”
Ephesians 3:10- Talks about principalities and powers in heavenly places. Angel hosts have witnessed the formation of the church of Christ Jesus, and have watched the walk of each believer as the Lord worked His grace, love and power into each life. The angels are observing firsthand the building of the body of the true church in all places of His dominion this very hour.
1 Timothy 5:21- Paul was stirring up Timothy to remember that the elect angels were constantly watching how he served the Savior and lived the Christian life. What fact could provide a greater motivation to righteous living than that? Careful, angels are watching!
Luke 15:10 says the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents and then the angel hosts are numbered among the spectators in the heavenly grandstands. Hebrews 12:1 says that the angels refer to us as “so great a cloud of witness”, and they never miss any of the details of our earthly pilgrimage. They rejoice with us!
To conclude this section let’s look at Exodus 23:23; Hebrews 13:2; and Acts 1:9.