Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
This week we are seeking God’s answers to some of the more complex questions about life in our world. Monday we asked: “WHO or WHAT is God?” Yesterday we considered “TIME” and where you and I fit into God’s eternal TIME spectrum. Today let’s look at what God tells us about ANGELS! I wonder what you believe about angels. Do you think you’ve ever had an encounter with an angel?
Have you ever heard this: “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it!” WOW! That’s Hebrews 13:2 in the Bible! What do you think about that my friends?
So, who are these beings called Angels? We often read about them in the Bible, especially in some of the really famous events like Christmas (Luke 1:11-20; 1:26-38; 2:8-14); or the Resurrection (Matt. 28:1-7) and Ascension of Jesus (Acts 1:11); or the rescue of Peter from prison? (Acts 12:5-10) And, of course, they are an active part of popular movies, books, and the occult culture in every part of the world in our day.
So why do you suppose I’m raising this topic of angels now, as we transition into “The Grand Narrative”, and our quest to understand God’s eternal story and how you and I fit into the story God has been writing for millennia and is continuing to write even today?
In Ezekiel 28 we find something very interesting which seems to describe one of the highest-ranking angels as being IN the Garden of Eden, in one of the earliest scenes in God’s “Grand Narrative” story about our planet earth and our human race! Are you ready for this my friends??
God gave the Jewish prophet Ezekiel a very unusual message, about 525 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Ezekiel records it for us in the 28th chapter of the book which bears his name in the Bible, and it gives us great insight into the world of angels: “This is what the Sovereign LORD says: ‘You were the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…you were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you…” (Ez. 28:12b-15)
Most Bible scholars understand this to be a strong condemnation by God of the angel Lucifer, better known as Satan, or the devil. May I point out several important truths about angels I find here in these words and in other Scriptures?
* All angels are living, powerful beings God created, apparently BEFORE Genesis 1. They were all created holy and morally good.
They all resided in God’s Presence in His heavenlies before the creation of the earth.
* Angels were not all created by God to be equal. Some were given higher ranks and greater authority and power than others.
Satan was evidently ordained and commissioned by God to be a ‘guardian cherub’. (Ez. 28:14) That’s a high-ranking angel, perhaps guarding the very presence of God or maybe guarding the Garden of Eden. In God’s design for the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ the golden cover of the Ark was to be adorned with two golden ‘Cherubim angel‘, figures who each had two wings. (Ex. 25:17-22)
Other angels are described in Ezekiel 28:14 as ‘fiery stones’ among whom Satan walked, perhaps a link to the angels involved in the miracle departure of the prophet Elijah when suddenly “a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated Elijah from Elisha and Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:12) Or sometime later when Elisha and his servant were surrounded by protecting chariots and angels of fire. (2 Kings 6:16,17) In Isaiah 6:2 we find a description of another type of angel: ‘Seraphim angels’, each with six wings, who surround the throne of God.
* There are millions, maybe hundreds of millions of angels, all created by God and God often sends helpful, holy angels here to earth as His messengers, did you know that?
Listen to what we find in Hebrews 1:14: “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” Oh, I hope that encourages you, my friends! God has been sending angels frequently here to earth to accomplish God’s purposes and both encourage and protect His people, from the beginning of time!
Perhaps you remember Jesus, when He was being arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, said to His disciples: “Do you think I cannot call on My Father and He will at once put at my disposal 12 legions of angels?” (Matt. 26:53) By the way a legion was a Roman military army group of about 6000 soldiers and Jesus said God the Father had 12 legions of angels ready to help Jesus! WOW!
* But Ezekiel tells Satan, a ‘guardian cherub’ angel, even though created in perfection by God, evidently became proud and his wisdom corrupt, and God therefore expelled Satan from his high-ranking position in heaven! (Ezekiel 28:16,17)
God explains this horrific event this way: “So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God and I expelled you, guardian cherub from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud…So I threw you to the earth…” The first appearance in the Bible of Satan, expelled from heaven to earth, is evidently the crafty serpent in the garden of Eden who tempted and deceived Eve. (Genesis 3:1-5) We’ll look at that event more closely in a few days.
So now perhaps you see why I’ve chosen to spend today and tomorrow looking into what the Bible tells us was happening with angels in God’s heavenlies, even before the creation of our planet earth and the first humans. Satan’s rebellion in heaven was met with God’s superior power and justice, and Satan could not remain in God’s Presence while in rebellion, so God expelled Satan from heaven, and tomorrow we’ll see God evidently allowed a large number of other angels to join Satan as they were thrust out of God’s Presence. What happened to them? Are they involved in our world today in some ways? YES! That event is why there is good and evil, right and wrong, and the ongoing battle of temptations to draw the hearts and minds of EVERY person away from God, beginning from the time we are little children!
Think about that friends and tomorrow we’ll continue our look into this exciting and important reality about angels right here in Ezekiel 28 and we’ll add Isaiah 14 and other passages. Meanwhile, here’s a great song of encouragement about our victorious Jesus when we find ourselves in the battle! And I’ll meet you here tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Ezekiel 28:12-17.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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