God's School of Prayer No. 8 -- Intercession: We are Called to Be Angels on Earth, to Be Messengers of God, Carrying His Good News, Praying for Others

The word “angel” actually comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger.” The matching Hebrew word mal'ak has the same meaning.

Sometimes, the Bible uses these words for human beings:

 ordinary people who carry messages (Job 1:14; Luke 7:24; 9:52)

 prophets (Isaiah 42:19; Malachi 3:1)

 priests (Malachi 2:7)

 church leaders (Rev 1:20)

We usually think of the whole range of helping spirits whom God has created to carry out His will, including both good and fallen, evil angels, and special categories such as cherubim, seraphim, and the archangel.

Angels are mentioned 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament Hence, there is ample information available in Scripture to allow us to build a foundation for our knowledge of angelic beings.

What does the Bible reveal about angels?  Well, we see heavenly beings used as messengers, as we see in Luke 2, bringing good news to the shepherds and praising God:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:8-16

While the Scriptures give no definite figures, we are told that the number of angels is very great (Daniel 7:10; Matthew 26:53; Hebrews 12:22). It appears that all angels were created at one time. No new angels are being added to the number. Angels are not subject to death or any form of extinction; therefore they do not decrease in number. It seems reasonable to conclude that there are at least as many spirit beings in existence as there will have been human beings in all their history on earth.

DO ANGELS HAVE BODIES?

Angels are essentially “ministering spirits,” (Hebrews 1:14) and do not have physical bodies like humans. Jesus declared that “a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:37-39).

The Bible does, however, make it clear that angels can only be in one place at a time. They must have some localized presence.

Angels can take on the appearance of men when the occasion demands. How else could some “entertain angels unaware” (Hebrews 13:2)? On the other hand, their appearance is somet We don't know whether every angel carries out the same tasks, or whether some of them specialize in certain areas. The Bible does speak about classes of angelic beings like cherubim (Ezekiel 1) and seraphim (Isaiah 6). We also know the names of two notable angels: Michael (Daniel 10:13; Jude 9) and Gabriel (Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19,26).

The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God…

 Worship and praise - This is the main activity portrayed in heaven (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4-5).

 Revealing, Giving Messages - They serve as messengers to communicate God's will to men. They helped reveal the law to Moses (Acts 7:52-53), and served as the carriers of much of the material in Daniel, and Revelation.

 Guiding - Angels gave instructions to Joseph about the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1-2), to the women at the tomb, to Philip (Acts 8:26), and to Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8).

 Providing - God has used angels to provide physical needs such as food for Hagar (Genesis 21:17-20), Elijah (1 Kings 19:6), and Christ after His temptation (Matthew 4:11).

 Protecting - Keeping God's people out of physical danger, as in the cases of Daniel and the lions, and his three friends in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3 and 6).

 Delivering - Getting God's people out of danger once they're in it. Angels released the apostles from prison in Acts 5, and repeated the process for Peter in Acts 12.

 Strengthening and Encouraging - Angels strengthened Jesus after His temptation (Matt 4:11), encouraged the apostles to keep preaching after releasing them from prison (Acts 5:19-20), and told Paul that everyone on his ship would survive the impending shipwreck (Acts 27:23-25).

 Used by God in Answering prayer - God often uses angels as His means of answering the prayers of His people (Daniel 9:20-24; 10:10-12; Acts 12:1-17).

 Caring for believers at the moment of death - In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, we read that angels carried the spirit of Lazarus to “Abraham's bosom” when he died (Luke 16:22).

What is also true is now that Christians have been called to obey God through the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Christians are now called to do some of the tasks of angels here on earth.  In essence, we are

Jesus said in the parable of the goats and lambs: "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."  Matthew 25:40

We are called to help each other, to be a blessing to each other, to pray for each other.  We are called to act as God's hands on earth to help:

1. To Meet the Spiritual, Physical, and Mental Needs of Others as Our Lord Makes it Possible.

2. To NEVER BE LIMITED by Race, Color, Religious Preference, or Organization, Where There Are Needs To Be Met.

3. To ALWAYS Put Our Confidence in God to Meet the Needs, and to Give Us Wisdom and Direction According to His Will.

4. That Whatever is Accomplished, Whether in Word or Deed, is Accomplished in Such a Way as to Demonstrate and Share the Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ and to Bring Praise, Honor, and Glory to Only Him.