This week's cute little story is Aidan's, my middle child's fantasy. "Mom, I wish I had wings!" "Do you want to be a bird or an angel?" I can see his eyes mulling this question over in his mind. "Oh, an angel! Angels do good things!"
I couldn't agree more. The word “angel” actually comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger.” The matching Hebrew word mal'ak has the same meaning. My son may already have been given a vision to be a messenger of God.
Messengers can be human beings who carry messages (Job 1:14; Luke 7:24; 9:52), prophets (Isaiah 42:19, Malachi 3:1), priests (Malachi 2:7), and church leaders (Revelation 1:20).
Angels are all over the Bible. Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament (Chafer, Systematic Theology, II, 3).
The unnamed angels who appear most often in Scripture carry out a variety of tasks—all designed to serve God…
I believe we are all messengers of God in some way. Aidan, who oscillates between angelic behavior and less than angelic behavior, started this thought in my head. He, along with his other two brothers, can be a vessel of unconditional love. Those little arms wrapped around my neck or my leg (depending on the size) let me know I am loved and that Jesus loves me. Jordan bubbles over at times with emotional outbursts of love. Justin is a little more quiet, but he still hugs his Mom. Strength and encouragement do not have to come with wings.
Who were your angels today? What did they do?
I couldn't agree more. The word “angel” actually comes from the Greek word aggelos, which means “messenger.” The matching Hebrew word mal'ak has the same meaning. My son may already have been given a vision to be a messenger of God.
Messengers can be human beings who carry messages (Job 1:14; Luke 7:24; 9:52), prophets (Isaiah 42:19, Malachi 3:1), priests (Malachi 2:7), and church leaders (Revelation 1:20).
Angels are all over the Bible. Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament (Chafer, Systematic Theology, II, 3).
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).
- Messengers—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.
I believe we are all messengers of God in some way. Aidan, who oscillates between angelic behavior and less than angelic behavior, started this thought in my head. He, along with his other two brothers, can be a vessel of unconditional love. Those little arms wrapped around my neck or my leg (depending on the size) let me know I am loved and that Jesus loves me. Jordan bubbles over at times with emotional outbursts of love. Justin is a little more quiet, but he still hugs his Mom. Strength and encouragement do not have to come with wings.
Who were your angels today? What did they do?
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